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I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 




WAnK li \M|'Tn\, ISTG. 



HAMPTON 



AND 



RECONSTRUCTION 



BY 

EDWARD L. WELLS 

Author of "Hampton and His Cavalry in '64" 



'A Heart to resolve, a Head to contrive, and a Hand to execute."— G/iion. 



Columbia, S. C. 

The State Company 

1907 



CrY3.v\ ' 






LI8RARVofCOM«RESS| 
Two Copt«t R«c«tv«« 

MAY 10 1907 
■\ CopynfM Entry 

COPY A.' 



Copyright. 1907 

by 

THE STATE COMPANY 



PREFACE 

I venture to ask a favor of the reader — that he do what I 
myself often shirk, it must be confessed — read this preface. 

You would naturally infer from the title of this volume 
that it is the biography in part of a man whose career was 
very remarkable. So it is, but it is also — or is intended to 
be — something more. You may be inclined, at the first 
glance, to suppose that it can possess no interest for the 
present generation except as "ancient history." If you will 
read the narrative, I think that you will find this first impres- 
sion an error. This sketch is part of the biography of a 
people, the American people, at a most important period of 
its life. The past is the parent of the present and of the 
future of a people's life, as it is with every man's life. Hered- 
itary inclinations, good and evil, influence a people's career 
just as they influence that of an individual, and they should 
be equally subject to the guidance and restraint that experi- 
ence imposes through conscience. Although this is an ac- 
count of events happening many years ago, yet the causes 
producing them, at present in the background, are as full of 
vitality now as then — they are sleeping lions. Where treas- 
ure is, near at hand will always be lurking thieves. Because 
you may be sailing on summer-seas, free of care and with no 
thought of tempests, you do not doubt that the ocean, now so 
harmless-looking, will some time or other be lashed into angry 
waves mountain-high by blasts at present slumbering in the 
caves of the winds. So will the demon of storms reappear 
from time to time in your political summer-seas. You cannot 
prevent this by ignoring it, but you can save yourself from 
shipwreck by profiting by the experience of others. The mis- 
eries of Reconstruction were rendered possible only by the 
subversion of representative government — "the consent of the 
governed" — without which all government is simply despot- 
ism, however disguised. This thing can never again take place 
at the South under the same pretext — the negro — for that 
humbug has been exploded by the unanswerable logic of the 



iv Preface 

reductio ad ahsurdum. But wily, unscrupulous politicians, 
hungering for plunder, will sooner or later manufacture other 
pretexts to "fool the people." Next time the North or West 
may become the scene of such planned wholesale burglary. 
When that time comes, the afflicted section will sorely need a 
political heir of the qualities of Hampton, and also sorely 
stand in need of the experience taught to the Southern people 
by their affliction. 

It may perhaps be said that, granting all so far, the 
account of this period should be written only by one who 
has grown to manhood since its close, for he would write in 
a more "judicial spirit," as the phrase is, than an older man. 
But this view seems to me wrong, and a little reflection will 
convince anyone of its error. The keen interest that ani- 
mates an observer of contemporary events stamps on his mind 
exact impressions of facts, and these impressions are durable 
as brass. If he be fairly intelligent and educated, and be- 
comes an earnest, conscientious, lifelong student of the sub- 
jects involved with the facts graven on his mind, he is likely 
to arrive at approximately correct conclusions. On the other 
hand, a mere academician, cold, unimpassioned, totally inex- 
perienced in the heartbeat of sympathy evoked by the per- 
sonal sight of human misery, of "the agony and bloody sweat" 
of his fellowman, who undertakes to gather materials and 
impressions from lifeless, moldy volumes, nine-tenths of the 
contents of which consist of eco parte testimony from the side 
that was the stronger in numbers, is like an artist attempting 
to make a faithful portrait of a dead stranger by glancing at 
his corpse ; or, rather, like a surgeon dissecting a cadaver and 
assuming to analyze and set down on paper all the glorious 
characteristics that the immortal soul, which formerly inhab- 
ited that now senseless clay, may have possessed. But when 
he who has been a personal observer of "times that tried 
men's souls" becomes conscious that he is an old man, stand- 
ing on the verge of the grave, very well aware that he must 
soon render a truthful account of his stewardship, he finds 
that his own vain aspirations, animosities and prejudices 
fade away into nothingness, but that the noble, unalterable 
principles of right, the basic elements of the social compact. 



Peeface V 

loom up before his eyes in all their vast proportions. That 
man will not — dare not — misrepresent. 

The responsibility for Reconstruction as carried out has 
been, so far as I know, ascribed only to negroes and carpet- 
baggers or to the refractory spirit of the South, unwilling to 
accept the legitimate results of the war. But neither of 
these had anything whatever to do with it except as deaf, 
dumb, blind instruments in other hands. It was not the 
outgrowth of racial antagonism, nor was it a war legacy. 
The cause was but the pirate's instinct of a few, deluding the 
many, to wreck the ship of state in order to plunder the cargo 
and rob the passengers ; and this could be accomplished only 
by murdering the pilot, representative government. How 
and by whom the murderous dagger was used will be made 
clear by these pages. It will also be made clear how the 
State's resurrection from the grave was brought about by 
Wade Hampton, and that in the pacification of the entire 
country, in the restoration of fraternal feeling, no man's 
handiwork was so widely beneficent as his; that he was in 
the truest, most patriotic, most exalted, and most all-embrac- 
ing sense of the term, a Union man. 

E. L. W. 



Contents 



Chapter 



Page 

I. Family. Early Life. Characteristics. Secession 1 

II. War 36 

III. Reconstruction in the Southern States 69 

IV. Reconstruction in South Carolina 86 

V. Hampton Nominated and Elected Governor 101 

VI. The Campaign after the Election 1-18 

VII. Inauguration of Governor Hampton and Beginning of His Adminis- 
tration 168 

VIII. President Hayes Restores Constitutional Government 192 

IX. Declining Years and Death 209 



ERRATA 

Page 60, line 14, for New, read Near. 

Page 70, line last, for Andrews, read Andrew. 

Page 72, line fourth from bottom, omit word it. 

Page 99, line 23, for mal, read mala. 

Page 102, line 1, before equally, insert almost. 

Page 233, Index, for Baker, read Barker. 



CHAPTER FIRST 
Family^ Early Life — Characteristics — Secession 

statesman, yet friend to truth ! of soul sincere, 
In action faithful and In honor clear ; 
Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end. 
Who gained no title, and who lost no friend. 

— Pope. 

Wade Hampton, the subject of this memoir, w^as born on 
March 28, 1818. 

Before attempting to describe his personal characteristics, 
as exemplified by his career, or his individual antecedents, 
it is necessary, for a proper understanding of the man, to 
examine into his ancestry. This is not done here in the nar- 
row spirit of the "family-dendrologist," for nothing is more 
worthless by itself 

Than a successive title, long and dark. 
Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark, 

but because, like all others of the human race, he was the 
necessary product of hereditary traits far more than of the 
evolution of environment. His irrepressible instinct, as a 
soldier, to join in "freedom's battle once begun" : his undying 
belief in representative government, so that "Give me liberty, 
or give me death" did not express to him merely a burst of 
fiery eloquence, but contained a solemn, sober conviction ; 
these w^ere as much parts of his natural self by inheritance 
as were the clear, calm, W'Cll-balanced mind, and amiable 
disposition, the exalted moral nature, and the magnificent 
physique, w^hich he possessed. 

Hampton first saw^ the light in his mother's former maiden- 
home in Charleston, S. C, w^here the mingled blood of Saxon 
and Celt, of Briton and Huguenot, had built up a civilization 
and culture inferior to none in America, or anyw^here in the 
mother countries. But on his paternal side he came of that 
sturdy stock, large and vigorous in frame, active in mind 
and body, brave men, and true W'Omen, the Virginians, w^ho 
did such patient work and gallant deeds in wanning empire 



2 Hamtton and Reconstruction 

from the wilderness, in extendi ug- the boundaries of the 
United States from the Atlantic over the Appalachian bar- 
rier, across the Mississippi, tapping the Rockies, through the 
treeless deserts, and planting the flag of their country on the 
shores of the Pacific, and spanning the territory from Canada 
to the Rio Grande, wherever the}^ Avent carrying with them 
the principle of representative government and manly, 
generous honor. 

Anthony ITainpton, the great-grandfather of our Wade 
Hampton, was among the first settlers from Virginia in the 
frontier of what was then the English colony of South Caro- 
lina, locating his family on Tiger River in wliat is now 
Spartanburg County. In 17TG the British allied themselves 
with the Indians against their own flesh and blood, and, as a 
strategical measure, in connection with the attack on 
Charleston delivered by their army on Sullivan's Island, 
thundered b}^ their fleet at Fort Moultrie, let loose the 
savages to ravage and murder in the frontier settlements, 
where cruel miserj^ was thus produced. Anthony Hampton, 
and Mrs, Hampton, as well as one son, Preston by name, and 
an infant grandchild, were butchered, the other sons being 
absent from home and thus escaping the fate of parents and 
brother. Wade Hampton, the grandfather of our Hampton, 
was serving with the army defending Charleston at its capitu- 
lation in 1780, and was paroled and took "protection." It 
Avas not long, however, before the terms, to which the British 
stipulated to adhere in accepting these paroles, were violated 
by them, and this the Americans correctly considered as 
releasing them from their promise, on the legal and moral 
ground that a contract broken by one side operates as a 
release to the other from obligation under it. So Wade 
Hampton again drew his sword in the American cause, and 
was to be found from that time foremost among the militia in 
the interior operating against the British. They, in spite of 
having been the first to annul by non-observance the contract 
of surrender, did not in theory recognize the right of the 
paroled to resume their arms, and killed many of them, when 
captured, without even the formality of a drum-head court- 
martial, but the Americans took care to pay back the debt 



Early Life — Secession 3 

thus created in similar coin, wliicli kept this practice within 
certain bounds. Hayue thus fell a victim at the hands of the 
British. But it imparted a character of ferocity and despera- 
tion to the contest, and a general exasperation, which served 
to bring good hard fighters to the ranks of the "Rebels," and 
thus proved indirectly a benefit in the end. The Hessians, 
hired by the English to subdue the Americans, were given 
almost free license to plunder friend as well as foe, and this, 
too, had a happy effect on enlistments. But, besides this, an 
organized system was put into effect by which the property 
of "Rebels" was divided up among the British regiments like 
piratical booty, the ofiftcers receiving according to rank, and 
the privates their pro rata share, nor were they at all partic- 
ular to inquire whether the belongings of the Americans thus 
pillaged under general orders did not belong to the "loyal." 
So this, also, proved a most excellent recruiter for the 
"Rebels" and sharpened their swords mightily. The people 
formed militia, and partizan bands continually attacking and 
cutting the British lines of communication from the coast 
with the garrisons, which they tried to maintain in the 
interior, destroying convoys as well as posts, and injuring 
them in all possible ways, dispersing, when hard pressed by 
too great numbers, but always to assemble anew, and strike 
again and again. They possessed advantages in being better 
acquainted with the topography of the thickly wooded 
country, and were much abler horsemen than their antag- 
onists, and very deadly with the rifle at a range at which 
the smooth-bore musket of the regular "shot wild," and com- 
paratively harmlessly. These militia and partizan bands 
were of a very much higher class in military efficiency than 
would usually be understood by the title. The colony of 
South Carolina had been, from its commencement, a foster- 
child of the wilderness, and a step-daughter of the Mother 
Country. Separated from the northern colonies by inter- 
minable miles of trackless forest, and cut off by sea at 
Hatteras, the reputed hotbed of tempests: with three 
thousand miles and more of ocean dividing her from the 
parent, who at best looked upon her as a hewer of wood and 
drawer of water to administer to her "sheltered lives" : the 



4 Hampton and Reconstruction 

colony found it necessary to rely upon herself for protection 
against the Indian at her doors, and the fierce relentless 
Spaniard lurking ever watchful to the southward. So an 
effective militia system had been the result — not mere 
effeminate "trained bands" — and it has left a permanent 
impress upon the people "to the manner born," which is 
apparent even today. It was these militia and parti zan 
bands that practically reconquered the State from the 
British, with scant support from anywhere but from North 
Carolina and Georgia, and who, by this, and its indirect 
consequences did very much to gain the independence of the 
thirteen States. They saw vastly more service than did the 
Continentals, who did not possess the same spirit and 
endurance. 

It was in this school of war that the elder Wade Hampton 
first learned and then taught. In proportion to the numbers 
engaged, the losses sustained and inflicted, there make war- 
fare of the present day, with huge masses of troops of all 
arms and enormous amounts of ammunition expended at 
long range, and a fearful hurly-burly of sound, with but 
small percentage of casualties, look tame. In South Carolina 
there were during the war recorded one hundred and thirty- 
seven engagements. It was here, too, that he learned, from 
object lessons burned into the soul, not from academic dis- 
cussions, the far more important but corelated lesson of the 
inestimable value of representative government; that it was 
not a matter, as the cynic says, of indifference who rules, but 
of paramount importance. He had seen his aged parents, 
and brother, butchered by allies operating under the orders 
of the British : he had witnessed the nation, which had 
rejected for themselves, by the expulsion of James, the 
dogma of 

The right divine of kings to govern wrong, 

endeavoring to impose upon his own people this exploded 
fallacy grotesquely inappropriate to the surroundings, and 
the halter and fire and sword and pillage chartered to per- 
petuate it on the virgin soil of his country. All this was a 
ten thousand times more efficient mode of teaching the value 



Early Life — Secession 5 

of representative government than could be had in a century 
of post-graduate courses in the best of modern universities. 
Heart and brain charged full of convictions thus acquired 
were transmitted in proportionate intensity to the grandson 
of the elder Wade. 

Of Wade Hampton, the Kevolutionary hero, we hear in 
1781, as abandoning all his property to the British and 
Tories, and raising a Regiment of Cavalry for service under 
General Sumter. Just before this, he had been arrested by 
the British and was being taken to prison by a party of 
twelve men, when he wrenched away from two of them their 
muskets, and effected his escape. He notably, from this 
time, figures in the hot fights continually raging. He was 
with Sumter on his expedition in Rawdon's rear in the 
neighborhood of Charleston, sweeping up the enemy's 
detachments and breaking up his power. Hampton, with his 
own command and some other troops, performed the exploit 
of penetrating to the Quarter-house within four miles of 
Charleston — nearer than anyone had gone since the sur- 
render — and capturing there after some resistance the entire 
guard, and taking them along as prisoners, leisurely with- 
drawing. After the completion of this expedition to the 
low-country, Hampton was left in command of Sumter's 
Brigade until the arrival of a ranking officer. 

At the important battle of Eutaw Springs Hampton com- 
manded Sumter's Brigade after the wounding of his ranking 
officer. He performed signal service at a very critical 
juncture against the enemy's right flank, thereby saving the 
day for the American army, and also later covered Greene's 
withdrawal by a brilliant and successful charge. He was in 
fact the hero of the day. He had now become one of the 
most famous, trusted, and successful of the American leaders. 
Of the Legislature convened in January, 1783, he was a 
prominent member. That was an assemblage remarkable, in 
that almost every representative had earned a title to legis- 
late for his country, not by the arts of the politician, but by 
the achievements of the soldier in defense of the government 
of the people. After the war he served one term in Congress, 
from 1803-5. On the apprehension of war with England in 



6 Hampton and Keconstruction 

1808, he went to New Orleans us colouel, U. S. A., and in 1813 
was made major-general, operating on the Canadian frontier. 
After the war Hampton's sword, turned into a plough- 
share, became to his country an even more beneficent instru- 
ment of peace than it had been conspicuously a safeguard on 
the battlefield. He was one of the first — probably the very 
first — to have the foresight to grasp the idea of the para- 
mount importance of cotton to his own section, and to the 
world at large, and planted it on a very extensive scale. If 
he who makes two ears of corn grow where one had grown 
before is entitled to the gratitude of mankind in a greater 
degree than the foremost "statesmen," what shall we say of 
the man, and 

Where sleeps the poet who shall fitly sing 

The source wherefrom doth spring 

That mighty commerce which, confined 

To the mean channels of no selfish mart, 

Goes out to every shore 

Of this broad earth, and throngs the sea with ships 

That bear no thunders ; hushes hungry lips 

In alien lands ; 

Joins with a delicate web remotest strands ; 

And gladdening rich and poor, 

Doth gild Parisian domes, 

Or feed the cottage-smoke of English homes, 

And only bounds its blessings by mankind ! 

At his death he left a large fortune, and rich estates in 
Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as in South Carolina. He 
was a man of strong individuality and will; one destined 
to make his mark anywhere. But he seems also to have 
taken in all matters peculiarlj^ broad, liberal views, unin- 
fluenced by prejudice. It is related of him on good authority 
that on one occasion, when political feeling was running high, 
he astonished people by voting for a partj'-opponent for an 
office in an educational institution, on the ground that the 
candidate was the best fitted for the duties of the place, and 
that the character of the studies pertaining to the chair 
was entirely outside the realm of politics. 

His son. Wade Hampton, in his 3'outli was an officer of 
dragoons in the United States army, and served with dis- 
tinction at the battle of New Orleans on the staff of Jackson, 
as inspector-general. He therefore prominently associated 



Early Life — Secession T 

his name for all time with the most remarkable battle, taken 
all in all, of which there exist authentic records. There are 
others looming through the mists of time, the vague reports 
of which are as mythical as Homeric legends, which might 
13erhaps stand some comparison with it if the accounts of 
them were true and unexaggerated, but such cannot be 
assumed to be the case, whereas the facts of New Orleans are 
definite and undisputed. 

After Napoleon was shut up in Elba, the English nation 
had a breathing spell and leisure to give undivided attention 
to their war against the United States, and they put forth 
strong efforts in that direction. Among other things, an 
expedition was fitted out to capture New Orleans, and thus 
wrest from the United States, and permanently hold either 
for herself or Spain, the vast region of which the Mississippi 
was the only line of transportation and New Orleans the sole 
outlet before the introduction of railways. Their fleet con- 
sisted of one man-of-war carrying eighty guns, five carrying 
seventy-four each, five of somewhat lesser armament, four- 
teen other men-of-war and gunboats, manned by 10,000 sail- 
ors, and a large number of transports and schooners. These 
war-vessels were commanded by the elite of the British navy. 
The army, numbering over 10,000 men, was made up almost 
entirely from the flower of Wellington's Spanish veterans, 
commanded by his brother-in-law. Sir Edward Pakenham, 
also a Peninsula hero, who led the storming party at Badajoz 
and the splendid charge at Salamanca, for which latter 
exploit he received knighthood. The three generals next in 
rank had, too, brilliant war records. A number of civil 
officials were also brought along to administer the country, 
which they counted upon conquering. 

Jackson had, at first, to oppose this formidable array but 
700 United States Regulars and about 1,000 State militia, 
which was all that the general government was able to supply 
him with after putting Commodore Patterson in charge of 
the naval defenses and river forts — which were antiquated 
and weak — and two armed schooners and five smaller boats. 
But Jackson set about in earnest raising troops through his 
personal influence and the prestige which his name had 



8 Hampton and Reconstruction 

acquired, assuring the inhabitants that "no British soldier 
should enter the city, save as prisoner, except over his dead 
body," and all knew that this meant sober truth, not boasting. 
Fortunately the Creoles, at that time none too friendly to the 
United States, were eager to fight their hereditary foemen, 
the English, and therefore all the local organizations 
responded with great alacrity to the call to arms. There were 
even some companies of quadroons, numbering in all 330 men, 
which volunteered, and were assigned to duty. The negroes 
seemed to be imbued with almost as much enthusiasm as the 
whites, and did effective service with the spade on the 
defenses. But Jackson's chief reliance was on his old com- 
rades, the riflemen from Tennessee and Kentucky, whom he 
was energetically hurrying forward to give him indispensable 
reinforcements. 

Jackson reached the city of New Orleans on December 2, 
1814. The English effected their first advance and developed 
their plans on December 23 by getting into position a por- 
tion of their force on a plantation on the river a few miles 
below the city, where Pakenham came on the following day 
with the greater part of the remainder of his command. 
Jackson established his outer line behind a canal and em- 
bankment confronting his enemy, and about three miles 
distant from the city, with his right flank on the river and his 
left resting on an impenetrable swamp. He worked night and 
day to strengthen his position with the spade, and to get 
guns into place, besides putting one battery, supported by 
800 men, on the other side of the river to enfilade an attack- 
ing column, and to cover his own right flank. 

It will be remembered that on this very 24th day of Decem- 
ber peace had been signed, unknown in America, and, there- 
fore, if the cable had then existed, the life of many a brave 
man would have been spared and the British arms saved from 
a memorable defeat. 

But it will not do to say that the battle of New Orleans, 
unknowingly fought after the treaty of peace had been signed, 
was for that reason a fruitless slaughter, for unless there had 
been a decisive American victory in Louisiana the English 
would not have been willing to relinquish possession of the 



Early Life — Secession 9 

territory on the right bank of the Mississippi, The veiled 
expressions of their commissioners at Ghent before signing 
the treaty, dissenting from Napoleon's construction of inter- 
national law, meant this — meant that they did not recognize 
the validity of Napoleon's transfer of Louisiana to the United 
States. So our country is indebted to Jefferson for that vast 
vaguely defined empire then termed Louisiana, which has 
been the means of our breaking from what would have been 
our prison-pen on the east of the river, and of our legitimate 
expansion to the Pacific ocean and from Mexico to the lands 
on the north of the continent now temporarily held by Eng- 
land in trust for us — which will eventually be ours. True, 
but what does it owe to Jackson for safeguarding those 
countless States which were to be born from that prolific 
mother — for causing the title-deed to the land in fee simple 
to be signed in the blood of the invader? And in this grand 
transaction in history-making the name of a Hampton is 
associated, the one from whom the great soldier and paci- 
ficator derived his being. 

After some skirmishing, and much artillery fire, the real 
action came off on January 8, 1815, over a fortnight after the 
treaty of peace had been signed. The British were through- 
out overmatched in the previous artillery fighting, which 
seems unaccountable, for they could have brought up, in 
addition to those attached to the army, a far superior force 
in guns and gunners from the fleet, which, equally unac- 
countably, made no serious demonstration to cooperate with 
the land forces, nor itself, to capture the city. 

Jackson's force equaled about 4,000 men, of which 800 
were on the western bank of the river, which probably 
included not only those in the actual firing line, but nearly 
every efficient man that he had. Pakenham had his 10,000 
men, of which he detached about 1,000 to cross the river and 
silence the battery there, and drive away its supports, which 
was easily accomplished, but too late to help the main attack. 
He then attacked with 6,000 men, holding the rest in reserve, 
for the purpose of storming Jackson's line. But he only con- 
verted the field in front of the Americans into a slaughter- 
pen for his own troops. It was the old, old story of English 



10 Hampton and Reconstruction 

physical pluck undirected by military skill — a frontal attack 
in mass over open ground against a resolute fire of "straight- 
shooters" behind cover. They came on in close order, in a 
beautiful red column, spick-and-span in uniforms and accou- 
trements, armed mostly with the comparatively harmless 
smooth-bore musket, and went down like sheep before the 
famous rifles of the Western frontiersmen. In twentj-five 
minutes by the clock Pakenham was a dead man, his two 
generals next in rank wounded, one mortally, and his troops 
— what was left of them — in pell mell retreat covered by the 
reserves. The English acknowledged a loss of 1,929 killed 
and wounded, but the Americans put it at 2,600, besides 500 
prisoners, the discrepancy consisting probably in the count- 
ing by the British of only the badly w^ounded, whilst we 
counted all put Jiors dc comhat and prisoners. The Ameri- 
can loss was exactly eight killed and thirteen wounded. Some 
writers — and among them very recent ones — put down the 
British losses at over 3,000 killed and wounded, but there is 
no dispute about tlie number of American casualties as above 
given. The two British West Indian regiments were "no 
good-' eitlier in fighting or endurance. They were composed 
in part of negroes. 

This battle ended the campaign. The British withdrew to 
their ships and embarked for home. Reaching there they 
found Europe again ablaze. Napoleon escaped from Elba. 
Many of them were sent to Belgium and took part in the 
Battle of Waterloo, 

The unique features of this battle were that it was fought 
more than a fortnight after peace; that a force of regulars, 
the flower of the British army (save two partially negro regi- 
ments from the West Indies) 10,000 strong, attacked 4,000 
militia and heterogenous nondescripts, say with odds of two 
and a half to one, or, counting only the attacking column 
actually engaged, exclusive of reserves, one and a half to one ; 
that the enemy lost, by their own count, of the troops 
engaged, 33 per cent., and by our count about 52 per cent., 
and that the American casualties were in all twenty-one 
men, or about half of one per cent. But Jackson had 
only 3,200 men on the east side of the river against Paken- 



Early Life — Secession 11 

ham's 9,000. Other remarkable circumstances attending this 
movement are : why the British did not act with their fleet 
against the city, nor make any serious demonstration against 
it, and why Pakenham blundered so egregiously in his opera- 
tions, as he was not a "tin soldier," but accounted a good one. 
Perhaps this latter was caused by his inexperience in a sepa- 
rate command. Another strange thing is that the expedition, 
so ambitiously prepared for a great object, should have been 
abandoned so lightly, with the fleet intact and a land force 
remaining still nearly double that of Jackson. In point of 
fact, the American infantry actually engaged on the east side 
of the river did not exceed 1,600. 

Whatever honest differences of opinion there may be as to 
Jackson's qualifications for a political career, we do not 
think that there can be any doubt about his place among 
the world's greatest commanders. Unquestionably, a man in 
whom the military instinct predominates may be very dan- 
gerous in civil life, but, all the same, he may al'so be a weapon 
of inestimable value to the people in time of war. It has 
been given, indeed, to very few possessing military genius to 
unite with it unswerving obedience to the vital principles of 
representative government — among those few was the subject 
of this memoir. During Jackson's campaign in Louisiana, 
his tactics — taking into consideration his inferior numbers 
and the heterogenous character of his force — were faultless. 
In his strategy there is only one point open to criticism, and 
on this it is provable that he was not in fault. It may be 
said that the provision on January 8th to cover his right flank 
from across the river was inadequate, and that the disaster 
which occurred there might have proved fatal if the enemy 
had vigorously pushed their advantage. But Jackson read 
his adversary aright. He correctly divined that Pakenham, 
already disheartened and bewildered as to the numerical 
strength of the Americans, which he greatly exaggerated, 
would not dare to separate his force by detaching a strong 
body to cross the river to turn his enemy's flank, but would — 
as English commanders still usually persist in doing — make 
a frontal attack, a head-on rush. Meantime Jackson had sent 
a detachment across the river sufficient to hold the position. 



12 Hampton and Reconstruction 

and that this was not done was not his fault. The greatest 
of generals may have his plans foiled through failure of sub- 
ordinates to obey orders, as happened to Jackson at New 
Orleans, and to Lee at Gettysburg and at many another 
battle. 

After the battle Hampton was sent by Jackson as bearer 
of dispatches to President Madison at Washington, who thus 
first received the news. Inspired by the thought of conveying 
to his countrymen the glorious report of such a victory, which 
he knew would ring like a bugle-blast throughout the land, 
giving fresh courage to friends much in need of it, for the 
rest of the war on land had been far from glorious, and was 
only redeemed by the splendid achievements on the ocean; 
and unaware, as all were, that peace had been arranged, he 
sprang without a moment's delay into the saddle and gal- 
loped forth on a ride of about seven hundred and fifty miles 
to Columbia, S. C, and thence to Washington. Three hun- 
dred miles of this distance were through uninhabited country 
and swamps, where he must carry on saddle forage for horse 
and food for himself — if he ever thought of the latter. He 
took the shortest practicable route, regardless of obstacles, 
plunging in on horse and swimming the rivers where bridge- 
less. One day it was impossible to make over seven miles, 
owing to being obliged to swim streams swollen by floods, but 
he nmde the ride nevertheless in ten days and a half, which, 
counting the one day referred to as a dies non, would be an 
average of seventy-nine miles a day, including detentions by 
swimming rivers and otherwise. He rode the same animal 
during the entire journey, a magnificent thoroughbred, and 
brought him in entirely undistressed — "not a hair turned," 
so to speak — equally splendid horse and rider. 

After the close of hostilities Hampton left the army and 
settled down upon his estates. His residence was at Mill- 
wood, some five miles from Columbia, but only the stately 
columns on the front of the mansion, and ruinous walls are 
left to remind one pathetically of the warm, open-hearted, 
unostentatious hospitality and happiness that once reigned 
there, for it was burnt by Sherman's troops in 1S65. Hamp- 
ton possessed large means, and was never so pleased as when 



Early Life — Secession 13 

he could help along some one less fortunate than himself, or 
do a good turn to a friend. Kind-hearted above all things, 
with the natural, attractive manners of the well-bred, his 
home-circle drew toward it all that was best in the country, 
with a welcome accorded not because of a full bank account, 
or foolish fashion, but on individual worth. Here, too, was 
his private race-track, where he trained his thoroughbreds, of 
which he raised some of the finest in the country. Here, also, 
were "ancient oaks," and the fragrance and delicate beauty 
of the rose in every hue, queen of flowers in this, her most 
congenial realm, and all the other delights of country-life, in 
a climate, which made it most charming. At the large plan- 
tations in those days when a gentleman came to stay as a 
guest, to him was assigned a horse to suit him and a "boy," 
both to be his during his visit. He was left quite indepen- 
dently to his own ideas of enjoyment, not bored by being 
"entertained," nor obliged to be "agreeable," during the 
mornings, up to dinner-time. He could be with the family, 
or other visitors, or by himself, as he liked : could ride, shoot, 
fish, or sit in the sun and read, and smoke, always with the 
faithful "boy" at his bidding; or he was at liberty to follow 
beaux yeux to the rose-garden. The Colonel's negroes were 
fat and happy, as well they might be, where light work and 
kindly attention in health and sickness from infancy to old 
age, were as well an hereditary instinct as a recognized duty 
in the kind-hearted master. In politics he took no active 
part, but lived the life of a spotless, noble gentleman. 

It was in this atmosphere that his eldest son, the subject 
of this biographical sketch, was reared. He could not have 
been born in one better adapted to develop his fine nature, 
and impart the friendly thoughts and ways and the gracious 
manner, which made him liked by acquaintances and loved 
by more than it has been granted to many men to be. There 
he learned to ride, as a duck does to swim, "and witch the 
world with noble horsemanship." His was riding, not the 
artificial mechanical product of riding master and sawdust, 
but of the lightness and grace so grateful to the eye, and 
making a heavyweight in pounds a burden easily and pleas- 
urably carried by the horse. Natural hereditary aptitude, 



14 Hampton and Keconstructiox 

life-long daily practice, and a sympathy with animals, which 
makes their minds and hearts your own, subject to the will 
witliout external sign or motion, such are what go to make 
up a perfect horseman. He rode with single rein and curb 
bit, wearing spurs with horizontal rowels. When a young 
man he was to take part in a militia parade in Charleston. 
His horse was brought to tlie door for liim to mount, but the 
animal being young and fiery and excited by the surround- 
ings, plunged and reared, so that it required three servants 
to lead him up, and he wouhl not remain (luiet long enough 
to enable Hampton to mount in the usual way. But he 
vaulted into the saddle without touching the stirrup, and 
before the excited creature knew it, was firmly seated. Can- 
tering up the street a hundred yards or so, the horse and he 
had come to a perfect understanding — there is something in 
the sympathetic contact of the person, and the ''feel of the 
mouth," that convert the horse and the perfect rider into a 
centaur, no longer dual but animated by a common will — 
and as he turned and came "loping" back past the place 
where he had mounted he stooped gracefully, when at speed, 
and picked from the ground a glove which had been acci- 
dentally dropped Avhen springing into the saddle. A friend 
turned to his father and said : 

"Are not you afraid he will be hurt?" 

"Not unless he 'shucks' his skin," replied the Colonel, 
smiling. 

On his Mississippi plantation before the war were often 
assembled hunting parties, as well as other guests. It was 
here that he was so famed as a bear hunter, and was the only 
one known who could, unassisted, put a dead bear on a horse 
to be carried home. On one occasion a young Englishman 
was his guest, a man of the class who are bred from boyhood 
to hunt across country, and he himself was a noted dare- 
devil rider, following the hounds through thick and thin. 
After the first day's hunt was over he remarked to a fellow 
guest : 

"There are few men in England who can ride with him," 
indicating Hampton. 



Early Life — Secession 15 

After the second day's hunt he said : 

"There are not three men in England who can ride with 
him." 

On the third evening he made no remark for a while, and 
then said quietly : 

"There is only one man in England who can ride with him." 

On the fourth night he sat after dinner silently and 
thoughtfully smoking his cigar in front of the generous 
chimney, where were blazing the huge yule logs cut from the 
adjacent forest. At length he jumped up, turned his coat- 
tails to the fire, and as he stood before it toasting that portion 
of the human form divine which most touches the saddle, 
exclaimed excitedly : 

"By Jove ! There is not a man in all England who can ride 
with him !" 

Like many who have associated much with men in public 
life, or in social affairs, Hampton possessed the faculty, to a 
wonderful degree, of remembering faces and names, but he 
never forgot a horse once seen. Nor need it be one of high 
degree, for as his was the broad, genial, democratic temper 
of the true natural aristocrat with men, so it was with four- 
footed friends. It was believed that during the war he knew 
individually not only every private but every horse in his 
command, and certain it is, from the writer's own observa- 
tion, that he frequently noticed when a trooper was riding 
some animal not his own, and would inquire the reason. 

With a shotgun over dogs he was a capital and quick shot, 
noted far and wide, and a perfect sportsman. It is unusual 
for any one to be a past-master both with gun and rod, for 
they seem to require different temperaments, but he could 
throw^ a fly to attract from the depths the most fastidious 
of trout, salmon, and bass, and, once struck, they had but 
a poor chance ever to get away from that firm hand and those 
steady nerves. 

After graduating at the South Carolina College, of which 
his father was a trustee, he studied law, but not with the view 
of practising it as a profession. Although before middle life 
much occupied with social and other duties, and agricultural 
cares, as well as field sports, he found time for reading, and 



16 Hampton and Reconstruction 

would thus pass many an agreeable evening that would other- 
wise have been lonely in the absence of guests in the cheerful 
light of the logs in his plantation home in Mississippi. So, 
when living friends were not within call, or when weather 
prevented looking after plantation matters, or enjoying the 
woods, and field sports, there would be the book-shelves 
containing, after all, the best friends a man ever has; who 
are cheerful with you in prosperity ; considerate always, and 
never give the cold shoulder when luck is against one ; ready 
to laugh, or to cry with you ; never a bore by oversitting their 
time, but always coming promptly, when asked, to chat alone 
with you; so tactful and thoughtful, too, that they will 
unobtrusively whisper useful hints in your ear during the 
sleepless nights, and brace you up for the dreaded tomorrow ; 
or in the trendies or on the charge, perhaps, when you feel 
ciii bono, one of them will come to you in memory, button- 
hole you for a moment, remind you of some hero who has been 
made corporeal in song and story perhaps for a thousand 
years or more, or possibly within your personal recollection ; 
and then, soon your comrades are saying, "That man would 
rather fight than eat!" but it is all the doing of your old 
friends, the books, and you are only hypnotized by them. 

Once when Hampton was in the United States Senate at 
Washington, he was taking a stranger from California to 
introduce him to President Cleveland. On the way there, the 
conversation somehow fell upon the odes of Horace, and there 
arose a difference of opinion between them as to the correct 
quotation of a certain line. They afterwards settled their 
controversy — for, I believe, Mr. Cleveland declined the 
responsibility of referee on this Hague tribunal — by a copy 
of Horace, and it turned out that Hampton was right. On 
his return home, the Californian, who cultivated a vineyard 
as well as letters, sent to Hampton a cask of choice claret in 
graceful acknowledgment of having been in the wrong, and 
from personal knowledge the writer can testify that his taste 
in claret was good, if his recollection of the Latin poets might 
be now and then a little inaccurate. 

Hampton was a splendid specimen externally of the genus 
homo. Standing just six feet in height, broad-shouldered. 



Early Life — Secession 17 

deep-chested, well proportioned in waist, and narrow-hipped, 
with legs which, if he chose to close them in a grip, could 
make a horse groan with pain, he possessed an iron consti- 
tution, and great muscular strength, gifts of nature and 
inheritance, never marred by any excess, and kept in vigor by 
habits of out-door exercise. Tobacco he used in no form, and 
wine or liquor very sparingly. Up to old age, and until for 
years his active habits had been at times interfered with by 
suffering from the results of his amputated leg, he never 
knew by personal acquaintance "that curs't hag, dyspepsia." 
And let no one flatter himself that he can achieve and main- 
tain the position of a very great cavalry leader, whatever 
his other qualifications may be, unless he possesses, in large 
measure, such a constitution, and the endurance, mental and 
physical, which accompanies it. Many thousand lives were 
needlessly sacrificed in the war of 1861-65, many a crit- 
ical position lost, or cause perhaps almost ruined, because, 
at "the time that tried men's souls," the body of the com- 
mander was unable properly to do its part of the work. I 
think I know of an infantry general of great eminence, one of 
the best militarily educated of the officers in the old army, a 
fine strategist and very able tactician, who ruined a cam- 
paign, which probably decided the result of the entire contest, 
because stomach complaint, become chronic, curtailed his 
personal activity, and, of course, reacted disastrously upon 
temper, nerves, and reasoning powers. Nor could any but 
an iron constitution have carried a statesman unruffled and. 
calm, unsleepingly vigilant and energetic, through the polit- 
ical campaign of 1876. 

Hampton, in eyes, complexion and hair was of the Saxon, 
not the brunette type, but not too markedly so. His eyes were 
large, and gray in color, but having a "suspicion" of blue, 
when in repose, and could be on occasion steel-gray. The 
troopers used to assert, and I think correctly, that they 
sometimes "snapped fire" when he was in action. Ordinarily 
in friendly intercourse, they had a frank, honest, open, kindly 
look, which at a glance carried conviction of truth, sincerity, 
and honor. During the war he wore a full beard, but after- 
wards only whiskers and mustache. His voice in conver- 



18 Hampton and Reconstruction 

sation, up to his death, had that smooth, flowing- water sound, 
which is supposed to be the gift of a mild climate usually 
free from atmospheric rasping influences, a voice which seeks 
out the hearer's heart, and yet possessed an undertone denot- 
ing the firmness of his character. 

Though free from all undignified levity in social inter- 
course, he yet always was cheerful and genial and enjoyed a 
joke, and at times could perpetrate one. Though perhaps 
having been engaged in more single combats with sabre and 
pistol than any other officer in the army, and never hesitating 
to strike hard with his command, neither soft-handed in 
action with foe, nor hesitating to exact obedience and courage 
to the death from his men, yet, the battle over, his humanity 
and personal kindness to the wounded and prisoners of the 
enemy were a very marked characteristic ; and not the life of 
a single one of his troopers was ever risked or paid out inten- 
tionally otherwise than thriftily, and for a larger equivalent 
in military value. As a consequence, he was beloved above all 
by his men, who considered "following Hampton" the 
greatest honor of their lives, and was held in almost as much 
esteem by his foes, and with them, as well as with friends, his 
intercourse was often marked by an amiable humorousness, 
which left a pleasant flavor behind it ever afterward. 

Once during his Virginian campaigns, when scouting alone, 
which he was very much addicted to doing, he happened to 
come upon a single Federal soldier, who was bathing in a 
stream of water presumably secure from Confederates, and 
had left his clothes on the bank. Hampton covered him with 
his pistol, and summoned him to surrender, which he 
promptly did, and came ashore. Hampton could not help 
feeling amused at his woe-begone looks, all naked as the day 
he was born, and probably showed it good-naturedly, for the 
fellow put up a most piteous plea to be released. He assever- 
ated, in the first place, that he served in the quartermaster 
department, and was therefore a non-combatant. 

"And so, you know. General," said he, "I could not pos- 
sibly have hurt any of your friends, but must, on the con- 
trary, have supplied them with lots of nice captured things." 

Moreover, he stated that he had just obtained a furlough. 



Early Life — Secession 19 

and was going home to be married, and was taking a bath — 
most unprecedented proceeding for a soldier in the field — 
before starting. So Hampton could not stand his supplica- 
tion any longer, and laughingly said : 

''All right. You can go, then, for it is a fact that your 
department is very useful to us, and you do not look as if you 
could do any of my men much harm." 

So the soldier went to put on his clothes, but Hampton put 
a stop to that proceeding, remarking : 

"Oh, no ! I let you off, but not your clothes. I want those 
for my men, who are in need of them." 

In spite of all entreaties, the General was obdurate in the 
matter of the clothes. Of course it was not their value, which 
was very little, but the joke of the thing. So the poor wretch 
had to leave without them, nude as a Venus arising from the 
sea-foam, and on leaving expressed profuse thanks for his 
liberation, and said: 

"I'll name my first son Wade Hampton, after you." 

Many years afterward, when the General was a United 
States Senator at Washington, he was going up to his room 
in his hotel in the elevator, when he was spoken to by a young 
man there, who asked : 

"Are you General Wade Hampton?" 

On his replying in the affirmative, the stranger inquired 
whether he remembered capturing and releasing a naked 
Federal prisoner at a certain time and place in Virginia, and 
Hampton replied that he recollected it perfectly. 

"Well," said the stranger, "he's my father, and my name is 
Wade Hampton. Good morning, sir," and stepped out of the 
elevator at his landing. 

On March 11, 1865, Johnston's army was crossing the Cape 
Fear River at Fayetteville, N. C, the cavalry, of course, being 
the rear guard. When all but a portion of the army had 
effected the crossing, a detachment of Federal cavalry, con- 
sisting of a captain and sixty-eight men and officers, in 
advance of the Federal army close behind them, rode through 
a by-road, which by somebody's inattention must have been 
unpicketed, and came near to causing a very ugly situation ; 
in fact, did cause it. No other troops being immediately 



20 Hampton and Reconstruction 

available, and no time to lose, the bridge over the river 
being already sufficiently crowded, and a panic possible, 
Hampton caught up seven followers (there were no others 
cooperating) and Hung himself on the intruding company in 
a hand to hand combat, driving them pell-mell from the town, 
a large percentage being killed, or captured. Among the 
latter was David Day, a noted Federal spy, dressed in Con- 
federate uniform. When, after the charge, brought to the 
General to know what disposition should be made of the spy, 
the General told him that he had no time to attend to him 
then, but when he had crossed the river he would be obliged, 
to his regret, to have him hanged. The fellow was accord- 
ingly turned over with the other prisoners to the keeping of 
some Junior Reserves, and, when asked for at night, it was 
discovered that he had made his escape. He was an exceed- 
ingly active, efficient spy, one of the best Sherman possessed, 
and had been captured and managed to get away three times 
before this. 

Thirty-one years afterward Hampton was in Denver, Colo- 
rado. A stranger called upon him at his hotel, and said that 
he had been among the Federals in the Fayetteville charge. 
Hampton spoke about the spy in gray uniform, whom he had 
intended to hang, but who had escaped. 

"I'm the man," remarked the stranger. 

"Well," replied Hampton, "I said that I would have you 
hanged as soon as we got across the river. I certainly would 
have done it, if you had not got away, but I am glad the 
hanging did not come off." 

"So am I," said the man, laughing. 

The next morning Day published in the local newspaper 
a full account of the charge, and his intended fate and escape, 
and was almost as laudatory and enthusiastic about Hamp- 
ton as if he had been one of his troopers instead of a spy con- 
demned to death by him. Some people do favors in such a 
churlish, disagreeable way, that they make enemies by them, 
but it is not often that you find anyone who can condemn a 
man to death and thereby make a friend of him. 

One of the junior officers on Hampton's staff was a young 
man whom he had well known from boyhood, and for this 



Early Life — Secession 21 

reason and others, was warranted sometimes in making a 
little joke at his expense. Once, while in quarters in mid- 
winter, not even Hampton's energetic spirit could contrive 
any useful operations for his command — except, of course, 
the everlasting picketing in hunger, cold, and wet, but from 
that staff ofiflcers were exempt. He became tired, after 
a while, of seeing the young of&cer referred to loafing around 
and smoking all the time, with nothing to do. The head- 
quarters of General were some ten miles away, and 

the roads in Virginia in those days in winter were bottomless 

pits of mud. Hampton wrote a dispatch to General 

and said to the young staff officer, wliom we shall call 
"Blank" : 

"Please be kind enough to take this to General ." 

Now, as I have said, the roads were almost swimming 
depth in mud, and Blank was very careful about the appear- 
ance of his dress and accoutrements, top-boots always 
shining, steel spurs, stirrups, and bit as bright as silver — the 
pride of his "boy" — and horse well groomed. He "hated" 
that ride, but nothing was to be done but "mount and away." 
After a nasty ride, horse and rider, covered with mud, clothes 
and accoutrements in the same plight, he reached the head- 
quarters to which he had been ordered, and delivered the 
dispatch to the general for whom it was intended. The 
latter opened it, laughed, and handed it back to Blank to 
read. It was : 

Deae 



Please give Blank a drink, and send him back. 

He had another "good story" on Blank. It was in the Mine 
Run campaign in November, 1863. Hampton had ascertained 
by heavy skirmishing during the day, that Meade was in 
force in his immediate front and reported this to General 
Lee. So the Commander-in-Chief rode down to go over the 
ground with his general of cavalry, and see for himself the 
situation. Meantime, some members of Hampton's staff, 
including Blank, had managed to find a small house, where 
there was one room with a fireplace, which looked to them 
on that wet, raw November night exceedingly pleasant for 
cavalry headquarters, and they accordingly arranged to 



22 Hampton and Reconstruction 

establish them there for the night, sending a courier to meet 
General Hampton on his return from the front, to show 
him the way. When General Lee with Hampton arrived at 
the house, they found Blank and one or two others of the 
staff toasting themselves before the fire, in a high state of 
comfort. After warming their hands, Hampton turned to 
General Lee, and said : 

"General, where are your headquarters tonight?" 

"Indeed I do not know," replied the General ; "These loere 
my headquarters this morning, when I left them, but these 
young gentlemen have made themselves so comfortable, that 
I do not know where they are now." 

Profuse apologies and explanations were made. They had 
not, of course, known they were his headquarters. They 
would all move out at once, Hampton said. But General Lee 
would not hear of such a thing, and so it was arranged by 
the two generals occupying the only bed in the room, a staff 
officer of each to lie on the floor in front of the fire ready 
to receive the dispatches arriving during the night. The 
other members of the two staffs were turned out to sleep 
huddled together in the damp on a small piazza. It fell to 
Blank's good luck to be the officer whom Hampton told to 
remain with him, and it is said that he snored all night long 
in front of the fire, and that Colonel Marshall, General Lee's 
attendant, was up about every ten minutes receiving the dis- 
patches pouring in by couriers for both generals. In the 
morning, of course, they all breakfasted together, the meal 
consisting of the contents of a basket with some tough "bull- 
beef," and one slice of nice boiled Virginia ham on the top 
of it — this naturally intended specially for General Lee — 
which had been sent — the best certainly, probably all, she 
had — by some lady residing in the neighborhood. General 
Lee presided at the table with the same dignity, grace, and 
urbanity as he would have shown at Arlington, and to each 
in turn said : 

"Which will you have? This is some rather tough beef, 
and here is a nice piece of ham." 

Everybody said "beef," until it came to Blank's turn, who 
promptly answered "ham." 



Early Life — Secession 23 

As they rode away after breakfast Hampton said chaffingly 
to Blank: 

''Don't you think it was an impudent thing to take all 
General Lee's breakfast? You did not leave him a mouth- 
ful." 

"No, indeed, I don't think so at all," replied Blank, "That 
old gentleman is always presuming on his rank with us. See 
how he turned us all out in the cold last night [as a matter 
of fact, he himself had been all night snoring by the fire]. 
I had to take him down a bit." 

About a year after this. General Lee stopped one morning 
to see Hampton at his headquarters and took breakfast there. 
The menu was boiled rice, and sweet-potato coffee, and noth- 
ing at all else. Hampton presided at table, and asked Gen- 
eral Lee if he could help him to some rice. 

"Yes, thank you," said General Lee, "and, if convenient, I 
would like to be helped before Captain Blank." 

So the General had remembered that ham incident all that 
time, and Blank was "taken down a bit." But he had his 
chance to make amends, for he was a rice planter, and after 
the war had the pleasure of sending barrels of rice from time 
to time as presents to General Lee, in memory of the break- 
fast of which he had deprived him. 

It was at this time that an incident happened, which Gen- 
eral Hampton used to relate. 

General Lee was riding with him over the outer lines to 
inspect the ground. Each had left his staff behind, for there 
was nothing to be gained by risking more lives, and, besides, 
the fewer there were the less likely it would be that the 
attention of the sharpshooters would be attracted to them. 
After a time they reached a position where for some little 
distance the direct way, which they would have to go, was 
open, and very much exposed to sharpshooters, but by making 
a slight detour this could be avoided. When this point was 
reached General Lee turned to General Hampton, and show- 
ing him the detour said : 

"General, there is no use for you to risk it by riding here. 
You had better go that way and I will meet you over there," 
indicating the place where some cover began again. It is 



24 Hampton and Reconstruction 

needless to say that Hampton did not adopt the suggestion, 
but it illustrates how thoughtful and considerate General 
Lee was of everybody — except himself. 

Hampton's largest agricultural interests were in Missis- 
sippi, and there he spent much of his time prior to 1861. His 
principal crop was cotton, which that season reached 5,000 
bales. At ten cents a pound this crop would have been worth 
a quarter million dollars. Besides this, corn and other pro- 
visions were raised. There was a large stock of mules for 
work, as well as other animals, and then there were hundreds 
of negroes to be looked after. It was, therefore, an occupa- 
tion which was very far from a sinecure. It required a 
careful attention to details, as also a broad grasp, and the 
able management of a large capital. This training, and the 
spirit of command and management on a large scale thus 
learned were no bad preparation for much of a military 
officer's duties. He was to his negroes kind, considerate 
and wise for their happiness : a more contented people were 
never to be seen. They were always attached to him, and his. 
influence over them survived the war and "freedom." 

Everything pertaining to country life was dear to Hamp- 
ton, the simplest as well as the more important. It is related 
of him that once when required to prepare an important 
State paper, he remained home from church on a Sunday, 
for the purpose of writing it out, at his place in the country 
not far from Columbia. As his family returning from church 
drove up to the door, he met the carriage to help the ladies 
out, and was asked if he had finished his paper. 

"No," said he, "but I have found where the old turkey 
hen has made her nest in the long grass behind the stable !" 

Cashier's Valley, in Western North Carolina, was his 
favorite home in summer. Up to thirty or forty years ago, 
there was good hunting there for large game, as well as 
pheasants (ruffed grouse). Trout at first existed only on 
one side of the watershed, but he carried them in buckets over 
the ridge, where they have since flourished. Sport of any 
kind enjoyed in that beautiful region, or mere existence, is 
rendered vastly more pleasurable than elsewhere by the sur- 
roundings. Mountains, the highest this side of the Rockies, 



Early Life — Secession 25 

usually clothed with magnificent forests to a considerable 
altitude, and beautifully verdant to their summits; plateaus 
four thousand feet above the sea, swept by health-bearing 
breezes ; sheltered nooks among the picturesque "coves," and 
along the clear, cool streams rushing among the mossy rocks ; 
it was from this mountain-home of his youth that Hampton 
came forth to redeem his people in 1876, and well that heart 
and mind and hand were charged full and braced up with 
pure vigor of the "everlasting hills." 

Among the many other gentle traits in Hampton's char- 
acter was his goodness to children. In Cashier's Valley, 
before the sixties, in the summer time on Sundays — there 
were no churches there then, and he would never fish, shoot, 
or hunt on Sundays — he would often be seen wandering about 
with children, making hooks of bent pins and with a cord 
attached helping them to catch minnows, and otherwise 
amusing them. When little Miss Ruth Cleveland was infant 
queen of the White House he met her once in the hall as 
he was leaving from an interview with her father, and 
stopped to talk with her for a few minutes to their mutual 
delight. At length, when the elevator stopped at the floor 
to take her upstairs, she pointed to it and said : 

"Go, now." 

So he obeyed the royal command, and they were great 
friends ever afterward. He related the incident to Mr. 
Cleveland, saying laughingly : "She must have caught that 
phrase from hearing you so often use it to importunate oflflce- 
seekers." 

Not very long before his death, when, in fact, he was suf- 
fering from a cold the effects of which probably ended his life, 
the writer told him of the great mortification and distress 
felt by a son of his, then a small boy, who a day or two before 
had missed a fine buck by overshooting him. He smiled and 
said: 

"Tell him, to comfort him, that accidents will happen in 
the best regulated families. Old Mr. Taylor, Squire Taylor, 
as they used to call him, was considered in my young days 
the greatest of deer hunters. One day he was on a stand at 
the bottom of a small hill, and a herd of deer, six in number, 



26 Hampton and Reconstruction 

I think, came to the top of the hill, stopped, and looked at 
him ; he took aim, fired, overshot every one of them, and was 
so disgusted that he did not fire his second barrel." 

"Then shall I give him your order. General," said I (quot- 
ing Ben Pump's favorite phrase from Cooper's "Pioneers"), 
' "to fire low, and hull your enemy'?" 

"Yes," he said, laughing, "tell him to fire low and hull the 
enemy." 

Wounded and helpless people, as well as children, always 
attracted kindness from him, as has been said before this, 
but an example often shows a trait of character better than 
the mere statement of a fact can do. It was the Monday 
morning after the two days' fighting at Trevillian in 1864, 
when he had, by an exhibition of military ability rarely sur- 
passed in the annals of war, extricated his command from 
almost hopeless defeat and destruction, caused by no fault of 
his own, and wrenched a signal victory out of the bloody 
jaws of disaster. On following up, at the head of his column, 
the retreating foe, he happened to pass, lying close by the 
roadside, a wounded Confederate trooper, who had fallen into 
the hands of the enemy on Saturday morning during the 
serious complication then occurring, and whom they had 
left behind in their retreat, as supposedly hors de conihat 
permanently. It has been remarked, that Hampton was 
believed to know every man and horse in his command, but 
few indeed have been the great leaders, of any age, the wide 
world over, who could or would have paused to do this thing, 
which I am about to relate, for, remember, he had for two 
days and nights been engaged in a death grapple and was 
now eagerly following up the retreating defeated foe. He 
recognized the poor, miserable, dirty private as one who was 
farther from friends and home than most, halted a moment, 
and then sent one of his staff — it was "Blank" — to say a kind 
word and lend him some money. It is only fair to add, that 
a half hour or so before this, had passed by the rear-guard 
covering Sheridan's retreat, and that the colonel of a New 
Jersey regiment, a quondam college friend and brother Delta 
Phi from old Princeton, had got down from his horse and 
tendered his brandy flask. 



Early Life — Secession 27 

This subject suggests very agreeable recollections of other 
kindnesses received, which I cannot bear to pass over, and 
for that reason will ask to trespass further on the reader's 
patience by relating them, although insignificant personal 
incidents. 

When wounded, I fell into the hands of the Federals, and 
remained a prisoner until they retreated about forty-eight 
hours afterward, as has already been related. During that 
time the attentions of the hospital authorities were not press- 
ing by any means, and I was a good deal the worse for wear, 
which lying unsheltered in the sun all day, and in the rain 
during one night, did not have a tendency to better. As it 
chanced, there was a boy of about my own age in the hospital 
slightly wounded, who belonged to the Second United States 
Cavalry, that corps d' elite of the old army of which Albert 
Sydney Johnston had been colonel and Lee lieutenant-colonel, 
and in which several other oflflcers on both sides, afterward 
generals, had served. Of Confederates there were Hardee, 
Van Dorn, Kirby Smith, Evans, Hood, Field, Chambliss, 
and Phifer; and of Federals, Thomas, Palmer, Stoneman, 
Johnson, and Garrard. 

This boy, from the moment that he saw me, was as kind 
and friendly as possible ; obtained some food for me, and even 
a drink of whiskey, which latter was like a refreshing shower 
in the desert of Sahara. Observing that I wore a signet ring 
on the little finger of my left hand, he advised me to take it 
off and hide it at once in my clothes, for he said, "Those other 
boys [from which I understood him to mean the conscripts] 
are none too good to steal it." I replied that I had thought 
of that, but could not remove it from the finger, because 
the joint was swollen. He said that it must be concealed 
somehow, for otherwise "the boys" would be very likely to 
cut the finger off to obtain it. So he tore a piece from his 
handkerchief and bound it around the finger, as if it were 
wounded, and thus effectually hid the ring. A few minutes 
afterward he brought up a sergeant in his regiment, a much 
older man, also slightly wounded, and I at once recognized 
in him another "friend at court," for I had seen him once 



28 Hampton and Reconstruction 

before under peculiar circumstances, some three years pre- 
viously. It was impossible not to recognize the man, for he 
was a remarkable looking fellow, immensely tall, strong and 
wiry, with a very pronounced "Cape Cod nose," and a shrewd, 
but honest face. When seen before, he was talking with com- 
rades about the merits of the commanders on both sides, and 
I had heard him say: 

"I tell you men, Albert Sydney Johnston was the best 
man that God Almighty's sun ever shone on. I served under 
him in the Salt Lake expedition." 

On this occasion I led up to that subject, and his expres- 
sion was exactly the same as used nearly three years before. 
That man did every kindness he could "to me — from his 
limited resources — and I verily believe it was chiefly for the 
sake of Albert Sydney Johnston. I was his beneficiary. 

Hampton's amiability and good judgment prevented his 
entertaining ill-feeling against any former antagonist of hon- 
orable record after the smoke of battle had cleared off, and 
the same was true of political opponents conscientiously 
entertaining their views, and pursuing them by legitimate 
methods. During his twelve years' residence in Washington, 
while Senator, he had many personal friends among Repub- 
licans, besides others. President Arthur, with whom he often 
enjoyed a gallop, and a fishing excursion for Potomac bass. 
At the time of his death a letter was published in the Phila- 
delphia Record from the well-known Colonel A. K. McClure, 
in which it is said, "From the day the war ended no expres- 
sion of bitterness or resentment ever came from Wade Hamp- 
ton. On the contrary, he earnestly urged the restoration of 
peace and fraternal brotherhood." The letter, after referring 
to incidents of the Chambersburg raid in 1862, when McClure 
first met Hampton, continues : "I did not again meet Hamp- 
ton until after his election to the governship in 1876. At our 
first meeting we had a pleasant evening, recalling the inter- 
esting incidents of the Chambersburg raid. From then, until 
the last few years, I met him many times in Washington, and 
was always delighted to enjoy his genial and kindly com- 
panionship. ... In 1876, when the people were goaded 
to desperation by the licentious 'carpet-bag' rule of the State, 



Early Life — Secession 29 

Hampton was forced into the campaign for governor. The 
contest was one of unusual desperation, but with all the 
power and the machinery in the hands of the State author- 
ities, sustained by the army, and by a State constabulary 
that permeated every precinct, Hampton was elected by 
1,134 majority. I doubt whether Hampton rendered more i 
heroic service in the flame of battle than he did in restraining j 
his friends from resorting to violence, when the election \ 
fraud was perpetrated, and driving the corrupt 'carpet- | 
baggers' from the State, but he held his people steadily to law ; 
and order, feeling assured that in time the right would 
triumph. . . . During his twleve years' service in the 
Senate he was always one of the most conservative and 
patriotic of Southern law-makers. He exhausted his efforts 
to suppress sectional strife, not only by example, but every 
deliverance he ever made, he pleaded for the suppression of 
sectional bitterness, and the restoration of fraternal rela- 
tions between the North and the South. He was one of the 
most delightful of all the Senators to meet in social inter- 
course, and his magnificent physique, soldierly bearing, and 
honest face commanded the admiration of all who came 
within the range of his acquaintance." 

Ex-Governor Hugh S. Thompson, prominent in Washington 
in Mr. Cleveland's administration, wrote of Hampton: "In 
the United States Senate he acquired wonderful influence. 
It was remarked by one, who was in a position to know of 
what he spoke, that Hampton had more influence in the 
Senate than any other man. His brother Senators respected 
his high character, his judgment, and his patriotism, and they 
were always glad when party affiliations permitted them to 
follow him in any measure. Shortly before his term in the 
Senate ended, he made a speech upon the then exciting ques- 
tion of the day — the force bill. His speech was delivered late 
at night during one of the long sessions of the Senate, while 
there were but few auditors in the gallery, but it made a 
profound impression upon all who heard it. At the close, 
Senator Plumb, of Kansas, one of the strongest Republican 
partizans, shook him warmly by the hand and said : 'General 



30 Hampton and Reconstruction 

Hampton, whatever may happen to you in the future, remem- 
ber that, after that speech, I am always your friend.' Vice- 
President Levi P. Morton, who was presiding, said after- 
ward, that he wished every man in the countr^^ could have 
heard that speech, which abounded with the highest patriot- 
ism, and that in all respects it had made more impression 
upon him than any speech which he had heard while he pre- 
sided in the Senate." 

At the same time the late Judge C. H. Simonton of the 
United States Circuit Court — who would have sat on the 
Supreme bench if selection always went by desert, and not 
political "pull" — wrote about Hampton words which have 
unusual weight, coming from such a distinguished source : 

"My relations with General Hampton became closer and 
my opportunities of knowing him were more frequent after he 
became a candidate for governor, and whilst he filled that 
office. He had a wonderful faculty of reaching his conclu- 
sions, as it were, by instinct. State to him a proposed line of 
action and, at once, without any hesitation, he gave his opin- 
ions, apparently not reasoned out, but the result, as it were, 
of intuitive perception. In nine cases out of ten he was right. 

"As a member of the Legislature, and on the Judiciary 
Committee, he would send for me occasionally to explain 
some Act, which had gone through that committee, and was 
submitted to him for approval. On one occasion, particu- 
larly, I recall, that he objected to an Act. 

" 'It will not do,' he said, 'I will veto it. I am busy with 
these other Acts ; suppose that you write the message.' 

"The result of a careful examination of the Act showed 
that his intuition, or instinct, call it what you will, was 
correct. The veto was unanimously sustained. So it was in 
a great many ways with him. 

"General Conner used to say that during the campaign of 
1876, those who were in liis closest intimacy were often 
startled to find General Hampton reaching at once a conclu- 
sion as to a course of action over which, in his absence, they 
had been debating long and anxiously. He was a born woods- 
man, and carried into all his pursuits the tastes and experi- 
ences of this character. It was this adjunct to his genius for 



Early Life — Secession 31 

fighting which made him the great cavalry leader, and this, 
which in civil life made him ahnormis sapiens et crassa 
Minerva, wise without the aid of scholastic rules, and full of 
strong common sense. 

"So long as manhood, and honor, and devoted patriotism 
are appreciated, his name will be remembered and revered." 

As to the bearing of woodcraft on war, it is recalled that 
Macchiavelli in his Prince recommends hunting for develop- 
ing topographical skill. 

I have been told by Judge Simonton that one afternoon 
during the crisis of the campaign of 1876, a consultation of 
the gravest importance was being held, only two or three per- 
sons, besides the General, being present. He was silent as to 
his own views, but listened attentively to those of the others. 
Before any conclusion was reached there was a knock at the 
door, and it was announced that a certain man was waiting 
outside to see the General, one who had been a good old 
soldier of his, of whom he Avas very fond, and on whom 
he frequently relied for hunting expeditions. Hampton at 
once rose and said that he regretted, but he would have to 
adjourn the meeting until the next morning, as he must talk 
to his hunting friend, who had come a long distance to see 
him. There was nothing to be done, of course, but to adjourn, 
but the gentlemen present, without saying anything, looked 
at one another significantly, as much as to say, "At last Jove 
is nodding." But they found out their mistake next morn- 
ing, when the meeting was reconvened. The supposed hunt 
had been on the instant seized upon by him as a convenient 
means of delaying the decision until the next morning, when 
he expected to receive information having a most momentous 
bearing upon the matter, and about which he was not at 
liberty then to speak. The information was received during 
the night, and totally changed the decision which had been 
contended for on the previous evening. 

The writer could furnish almost numberless quotations 
similar to the above, from newspapers and letters, which he 
has preserved, but space forbids the introduction of more. 

After being admitted to the bar Hampton devoted a portion 
of his time to politics, as was but the duty of the eldest son 



32 Hampton and Eeconstkuction 

of a family, which, from historical fame, social position, and 
wealth, justly held so much influence in the community. His 
opinions on the burning questions of the day were very con- 
servative — not at all in accord with extreme views. The best 
interests of his country, not his own private advantage, were 
those nearest his heart, and his judgment was never found at 
fault. While, of course, believing that negro slavery, which 
at that time had not long ceased to exist — from climatic 
causes alone — in the Northern States, was, being an estab- 
lished institution, right and proper for his people, yet he was 
no fanatic, and resolutely opposed any public opinion directed 
toward the toleration of the reimportation of negroes. His 
speech, as a member of the State Senate, on this subject was 
greatly applauded by the New York Tribune — at that date 
the most extreme radical journal of any consequence in the 
countr}^ — which called it "a masterpiece of logic, directed by 
the noblest sentiments of the Christian and the patriot." 

When the crisis of 1860-61 was approaching, there were in 
South Carolina — and indeed in all the "Cotton States" — 
three, and practically only three, groups of opinion on the 
momentous question of Secession, or Union. Strange as it 
may perhaps seem to those of a purely material turn of mind 
(who ignore sentiment, as being of enormous controlling 
power), the personal status of a man, whether poor or rich, 
slaveholder or non-slaveholder, api^eared to make no differ- 
ence at all in the nature of his opinions, and not one in five 
was in fact the owner of a single slave. Those are jaundiced 
minds that now think that it Avas "a rich man's war, and a 
poor man's fight." The two clauses of the sentence are 
equally incorrect. Moreover, the hope of an ultimate well- 
considered plan, with due regard to humanity toward both 
races, of the gradual abolition of slavery, where entertained 
at all, would be found almost exclusively among the richest 
and most cultured slaveholders wearied of the responsi- 
bilities and duties imposed upon them by the system. 

The first group above referred to would have expressed 
its views, in substance, as follows : they would have asserted 
that they were Americans in every fibre of their being, 
devotedly attached to the Union, and would have pointed to 



Early Life — Secession 33 

• 
their record in the past, in peace and war, as a proof of this ; 
that they believed that any State, acting through a constit- 
uent assembly, or convention of the people elected by them 
for that purpose, possessed the legal, and moral right to 
secede from the Union, when the people elected to do so, but 
that nothing, short of the necessity of self-preservation, 
should ever cause them to exercise this right: that the Ter- 
ritories were the common property, and undivided asset of 
all the States, and that consequently all were coequal in 
their rights there ; that as long as these remained Territories, 
the citizens of all the States had the equal right to emi- 
grate there, carrying with them all their property recognized 
as such by the existing laws of the United States ; that when 
a community constituting a Territory adopted a Constitution 
and applied to Congress for admission into the Union, as a 
State, such community had the right to decide whether the 
new State should, or should not admit negro slavery there, 
as an institution ; that, if they did not maintain these, their 
Territorial rights, there would be no more States made 
having the institution of negro slavery, and consequently 
they themselves would become in a hopeless minority, and be 
exposed to ruinous legislation leveled against them, even to 
the suddenly turning loose upon them of their own forcibly 
emancipated slaves; that the election of Mr. Lincoln on a 
"free soil" (i. e. their exclusion from the Territories) plat- 
form should be the danger-signal for Secession. 

There was a second group, which held to the right of Seces- 
sion, and the rest of the contentions of the first group, except 
that the election of Mr. Lincoln should be the signal for Seces- 
sion ; they held that his election, and the incidents leading to 
and connected with it, were not a justification for Secession; 
that self-restraint should be practised, and every means made 
use of to remove the necessity for Secession, before going into 
it. Nevertheless, they admitted the right of a State conven- 
tion to take the State out of the Union in spite of their wishes 
and to bind them by this action, allegiance to the State being, 
in their opinion, a paramount duty. 

There was a third group, consisting of those who, while 
freely admitting that Secession had existed as a right 



34 Hampton and Reconstruction 

originally at the adoption of the Constitution, and for many 
years afterward, yet contended that, as time had gone on, the 
States had entered into mutual agreements by contracts, 
made transactions together, consented to Acts of Congress, 
and to decisions of courts establishing precedents, which had 
by now created a condition of affairs inconsistent with the 
exercise of the former right of Secession; in other words, 
that, since the adoption of the Constitution, they had, as 
States, entered into what were virtually implied treaties with 
their sister States not to secede. Those of the third group, 
however, believed in the right of revolution, as presumably 
every one else does. There were not very many in South Car- 
olina belonging to the third group, and it was found there, as 
elsewhere in the South, that, when the war actually began, 
nearly all of these threw in their lot with their neighbors, 
and none were more resolute or more gallant in the field. 
General Lee would probably have been enrolled in the 
third group, if he had resided in South Carolina, and like 
him many and many a man there belonging as well to the 
first and second, as to the third group, would gladly have 
given freedom to his slaves — if he could honorably, and with- 
out the stigma of compulsion, have done so — to save the 
Union, and avert bloodshed. 

In the second group, it would seem that General Hampton 
should be classed; certainly not in the first. Immediately 
after the Ordinance of Secession was passed he resigned his 
seat in the State Senate on the ground that he was about to 
enter the army. Thus, mailed from head to foot in the armor 
of duty, he drew his "stainless sword" to defend a cause, 
which the verdict of the people, the principle of representa- 
tive government, according to his conscience, bade him de- 
fend, in a war, which he had done nothing to produce, and 
which he had used his utmost exertions to prevent; with 
nothing possible to gain, and everything to lose. In this, 
he was not unlike Cromwell at the commencement of his 
career, nor does the similaritj^ end here, for Cromwell first 
took to war at the same age as Hampton, and, like him, 
without any previous military training, also became the 
greatest cavalry general of his time at a period when the 



Early Life — Secession 35 

horse was the most important part of an army. Moreover, 
Cromwell, too, was a great lover of fine horses and fond of 
field sports, and affectionate and irreproachable in his family 
relations, but there (unfortunately for Cromwell's fame) the 
comparison must end. 



36 Hampton and Reconstruction 



CHAPTER SECOND 
War 

Forth from its scabbard, high in air 

Beneath Virginia's sky ! 
And they who saw it gleaming there, 
And knew who bore it, knelt to swear 
That where that sword led, they would dare 

To follow — and to die ! 

— Father Ryan. 

Hampton was forty-three years of age when he first drew 
his sword. He had had no military training whatever, unless 
a connection with the militia may be considered such. This 
was, as a matter of course, a great impediment to promotion 
in the army, firstly and evidently, because technical knowl- 
edge had to be acquired by experience, by practical study; 
and, secondly, because there was a very natural, and proper 
prejudice among the professionals, the old West-Pointers at 
Richmond, against amateurs, and "political generals," and 
all are naturally supposed to be such, until they prove them- 
selves of different stuff. But, in spite of this, he rose to be 
one of the two officers in the Confederacy commanding 
cavalry who attained the rank of lieutenant-general, the 
other being Forrest, who, singularly enough, had also re- 
ceived no military education prior to the war. There were 
no other lieutenant-generals of cavalry in the Confederate 
army. As they operated in entirely different spheres of 
action, and were subject to quite dissimilar conditions, there 
is no need to attempt to argue about their respective rank in 
the world's gallery of great cavalry leaders : let us say, then, 
par nohile fratrum. Forrest possesses a biographer worthy 
of him in Wyeth. 

This narrative is not intended as an account of Hampton's 
military career, but only as an attempt to give the reader 
some idea of him as man and statesman ; but, in order to do 
this effectively, it is necessary to point out the most marked 
of his characteristics developed in war, which constituted, 
in great measure, his strength when at the helm in civil 
storms, and the knowledge of which gave his people un- 



War 37 

bounded confidence in him. Only a short outline will be 
given of his military career, and a few incidents related illus- 
trating his possession of the qualities referred to. Such an 
account, to be of any value at all, must be not only conscien- 
tiously accurate in intent, but the writer of it must also be in 
a position to know what is true in regard to friends, and the 
same with respect to former antagonists : he must be able to 
sift the evidence and arrive at the real facts. The present 
writer believes himself to be in this position. He has already 
published an account of the chief parts of Hampton's mili- 
tary career [Hampton and His Cavalry in '67/), and in 
writing it had the advantage of access to private notes and 
memoranda of the General kindly lent him for that purpose, 
which were afterward burned in the destruction of the 
Hampton residence in 1899 ; he also made use of and studied 
other available original sources of information, as well doc- 
umentary as oral data from persons then living, and himself 
possessed some personal knowledge of the subject. It is not 
for a moment denied by the writer, that recollections of the 
"long ago," when 

Forth from its scabbard, high in air 
Beneath Virginia's sljy, 

he first beheld Hampton's "stainless sword," or that the im- 
pressions of some few great events of which he happened to 
be a spectator, still send a very vivid thrill through the long 
interval of years and stir the blood. But he does emphat- 
ically deny that these feelings bias his judgment of military 
events, or affect his relation of them. To magnify or exag- 
gerate about one's own side in the past contest would be 
unpardonable; to misstate about the other, contemptible. 

In May, 1861, Hampton was commissioned as colonel, and 
authorized to raise a body to be composed of infantry, cav- 
alry, and artillery, combined in a "legion" designed to act 
together as an independent command. After a little expe- 
rience in a great war, it was found that such an organi- 
zation was impracticable: the infantry became a body to 
itself, and the cavalry and artillery were otherwise incor- 
porated. A considerable portion of the cost of organizing 
and arming the Legion was paid for by Hampton from his 



38 Hampton and Reconstruction 

own purse. He went to Virginia with Ms Legion in June, 
and tliey took part in the first battle of Manassas (Bull Eun) . 
This was a great historic battle, much written about, and 
the important part taken in it by the General is not widely- 
understood. We shall, therefore, quote here the exact words 
of Major T. G. Barker, who was adjutant of the "Legion" in 
that engagement, and whose military services during four 
years of war, and subsequent high position at the bar, and 
personally, are a guarantee of accuracj' : 

"The Legion was formed and became the apple of his eye. 
It went to Virginia in June, 1861, and in a few short weeks 
thereafter it received its first baptism in war. On July 21st, 
before daylight, the Legion was dropped from the cars at 
Manassas Junction and at eight o'clock a. m. it was marched 
thence under the very indefinite order 'To go in the direction 
of the firing.' Under these orders it preceeded westward on 
the Sudley Ford road toward the left of General Beaure- 
gard's line, Avhere heavy firing was heard, and at ten o'clock 
it took position on the Warrenton turnpike, on the brow of a 
hill, on which stood a farmhouse known in history as the 
'Robinson house.' After half-past nine on that morning, 
this hill was the extreme left point of the Confederate line, 
facing north, and it became the pivot of ground around which 
the Federal Army, advancing from the north, from the Avest, 
and finally from the south and rear of the position, wrapped 
the apparently irresistible folds of its great fiank movement. 

"It is very slightly known in history, but it is none the 
less a fact, that on that day Colonel Hampton, with six 
infantry companies of the Hampton Legion, held that 'Robin- 
son hill' under a continual fire from before ten o'clock in 
the morning until two o'clock in the afternoon; that, after 
twice refusing to withdraw, he at last retired under per- 
emptory orders from General Beauregard communicated by 
General Barnard E. Bee; and that, when he did at last 
withdraw his command, the Legion fell back upon the 
plateau upon which Stonewall Jackson's command was 
posted. Before the Legion left the 'Robinson hill' the 
enemy was firing upon it from the north, and from the west. 



War 39 

and from the south, and rear, with infantry and with 
artillery. 

"The Legion had held its position on the 'Robinson hill' 
all day without any supporting force near it. When it with- 
drew, under orders to fall back upon General Jackson's 
position, it took position on the right of the new line, which 
General Beauregard had formed, by facing to the rear, and 
the Legion kept that position on the extreme right in the 
two charges, which were made, first up to, and afterward 
past the 'Henry house.' In the first of these charges Colonel 
Hampton was wounded, and the Legion, under command 
of Captain James Conner, occupied the right of the line in 
the second charge. Conner's company, the Washington Light 
Infantry, from Charleston, was right company of the Legion, 
and, therefore, the extreme right of Beauregard's line in the 
charge past the 'Henry house,' which charge of the whole 
line, simultaneously with the movement of General Kirby 
Smith on the left, put the enemy to flight and decided the 
fate of a most eventful day. 

"I do not propose to attempt to recount General Hampton's 
work in the war, but this, his first experience in battle, has 
been so little known and so clearly revealed the possession by 
him of the true military instinct, and of the qualities, which 
made him afterward a great soldier, that it is not out of 
place to speak of it at some length. 

"In his subsequent career I never knew him to encounter 
the responsibilities of a new and larger command, or to be 
thrown in contact with troops to whom he was a stranger, 
or with officers, who met him with more or less prejudice 
against him, as a civilian, or a volunteer officer having had 
no military education, without witnessing the effect of his 
force as a commander upon all who came under his command 
or in contact with him. 

"I do not believe any officer in the Southern Army received 
such deep and loving personal devotion from his soldiers 
and officers as General Hampton seemed to compel by his 
irresistible charm of character. No commanding officer was 
more implicitly trusted by his men in battle, or in camp, or 
on the march. 



40 Hampton and Reconstruction 

"I cannot pretend to paint him, or to recall his brilliant 
career as a military hero, but if any one wishes to know 
what he was, let him go to the survivors of the men, whose 
lives he so often held in his hands, with whom he so con- 
stantly risked his own life during four memorable years of 
danger and of death, and let him ask those men how his 
officers and men valued General Hampton, and why they 
thought so much of him, and he will learn from the best 
witnesses the secret of his power and success as a commander 
of men." 

In the May number, 1885, of the Century Magazine will be 
found an article written by General Hampton himself on the 
Legion at Manassas. 

After Hampton resumed command of the Legion, on suffi- 
ciently recovering from his wound, he was presented with a 
regimental flag by President Davis in person, the command 
being formed in three sides of a square to receive him. An 
account may be found in the Richmond Dispatch. 

At the commencement of the War General Hampton had 
accumulated unsold on his Mississippi plantation 4700 bales 
of cotton. At the time of which we are about to speak it was 
worth in United States currency probably about |1,200,000, 
but later on nearly four times that amount. He urged upon 
the Confederate government to ship this cotton to Europe, 
invest the proceeds in arms and bring them back to the Con- 
federacy for the army's use. But nothing was done about it, 
and when New Orleans was captured, and the Mississippi 
threatened, the cotton was burned lest it fall into the hands 
of the Federals. Major Barker relates the conclusion of this 
matter : 

"On the afternoon of the day when the news of this heavy 
loss reached camp, I rode out with Colonel Hampton, and I 
wondered at the equanimity with which he bore the loss. It 
was a revelation of character. I truly believe that he felt 
the disappointment of his pet scheme for procuring arms 
for the soldiers far more than the large pecuniary loss. I 
remember his then repeating as he rode along the favorite 
lines : 

Ah, well ! for us all some sweet hope lies, 
Deeply burled from human eyes. 



War 41 

"Such was the temper, and such the philosophy or faith 
of this heroic man." 

It is rather remarkable that out of the ofl&cers and men 
orginally composing the Legion there were two who became 
lieutenant-generals, one a major-general, and three brigadier- 
generals. 

After Manassas Hampton continued, on recovering from 
his wound, to serve with his Legion in General Joseph E. 
Johnston's army in Virginia. When McClellan commenced 
his campaign in the following spring at Yorktown, Hampton 
was there confronting him. At Seven Pines he was wounded 
in a desperately fought field. 

In May, 1862, he was made brigadier-general of infantry. 
Early in the autumn of 1862 he was assigned to the First 
Cavalry Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia, "Mae- 
Gregor on his native heath," a fish put in its element. It 
was after Sharpsburg, in October, that J. E. B. Stuart struck 
out on his famous raid to Chambersburg, Pa. Hampton was 
second in command, and it was then that he and A. K. 
McClure first met, as described by the latter, which has been 
referred to. Hampton was responsible for safe-guarding 
private property, and it was safer so than it would have been 
under the present police of most of our cities. Nothing what- 
ever of private property was touched, except for subsistence, 
and for that and the horses impressed the regular quarter- 
master receipts were given the qwners, thus enabling them 
to claim and receive compensation from their own govern- 
ment. Mr. McClure had a "model farm" just outside of the 
town, and was spending a day or two of holiday there. None 
of his fancy poultry or blooded calves or lambs were 
molested, or the favorite trout in the spring, or anything 
else. No soldiers were allowed to enter private houses. Mr. 
McClure invited some of the officers to take coffee after din- 
ner, and smoke in his library, and there they talked together 
about the current topics of the day, just as gentlemen would 
do in time of peace, but Mr. McClure noticed that, in the 
free references to the relative merits of different com- 
manders, no allusion was ever made to the position, or num- 
bers of troops at that time. We cannot help thinking, though, 



42 Hampton and Reconstruction 

that, in this instance, the host was inclined to "speed the 
going guest." 

In the winter of 1862-63 Hampton guarded the crossings of 
the upper Rappahannock, near Brandy and Stevensburg, and 
from there led in person a number of daring expeditions in 
the rear of the Federal Army near Fredericksburg, capturing 
prisoners and commissary and quartermaster stores in large 
quantities. He was fond of choosing the most inclement 
weather, particularly snow-storms and sleet, for these expe- 
ditions, and would thus pounce dowm unsuspected in the 
darkness and confusion, and be off with his "plunder" before 
daylight. At the celebrated cavalry battle of Brandy Station, 
June 9, 1863, he exhibited conspicuous personal valor and 
professional ability. It was here that his brother Frank 
Hampton — noted, among other things, so greatly for amia- 
bility that he never had a private enemy — met his death in 
the forefront of battle. At Gettysburg he was with Stuart's 
command. There is — and probably always will be — a con- 
troversy as to how far General Lee was placed at a disad- 
vantage from being deprived of the use of "the eyes and the 
ears of the army," through Stuart's being on the right (east) 
flank of Hooker's (Meade's) marching column on its advance 
to Gettysburg. However that may be, Hampton had no 
responsibility whatever in the matter, having been second 
in command, and not consulted about the movement. Hamp- 
ton reached the field in time for effective fighting. He 
received two sabre-cuts in the head, and a shrapnel wound in 
the thigh, and was disabled, but not before he had success- 
fully repelled and driven off after a sanguinary engagement 
a vastly superior force. The brigade had twenty-one of its 
twenty-three field officers killed, or wounded during the 
Gettysburg campaign. But Hampton was soon back in the 
field again, as will be remembered from the incident about 
"Blank" in the Mine Run campaign of November, 1863. 

On August 3, 1863, he was commissioned major-general. 
During the winter of 1863-4 he was near Milford picketing 
the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers on the right of the 
army, about sixty miles by road from Richmond. On the 
morning of February 29, it was discovered by his scouts 



Wae 43 

that the Federal infantry and cavalry were moving. This 
proved to be merely a feint on the part of the infantry to 
divert attention from 'Kilpatriek, who marched with a cav- 
alry force of nearly 4,000 picked men on Sunday evening, 
February 28th, for the purpose of dashing round the right 
flank of Lee's army and capturing Richmond unawares, 
Dahlgren, leading the advance with 460 men, intending to 
cross the river above the city, and cooperate from the south 
side with the rest of the expedition. Ascertaining this, 
Hampton started in pursuit without a moment's delay, 
taking with him 306 troopers and a part of a horse-artillery 
battery, all that could be spared from pickets at such short 
notice. Sunday night had been almost summer-like in tem- 
perature, but it proved a "weather-breeder," as Hampton 
thought and prayed it would, for Tuesday opened with a 
snow and sleet storm, which increased in severity as the day 
advanced, and the night closed in pitch dark, as well. About 
ten o'clock at night the camp fires of Kilpatriek were made 
out near Atlee's Station, about ten miles north of Richmond. 
Hampton decided at once to attack with vigor, counting upon 
the storm and darkness concealing the small number of his 
men. He dismounted one hundred troopers, supported by 
the rest mounted on each flank, with orders, when the pickets 
were encountered, not to return their fire, but to rush in on 
the main body. Complete silence was enjoined, until the 
camp itself was reached, when all the yells that throats could 
furnish were to be poured forth, for dear life. In connection 
with this, his two pieces of artillery were to open, firing as 
rapidly as possible, and making all the noise practicable. 
The plan worked out perfectly. It was a complete surprise, 
and Kilpatriek, supposing himself attacked by a large force, 
made haste to get away, leaving rations cooking on the fires 
and other good things — much to the satisfaction of Hamp- 
ton's famished troopers — and also one loaded wagon with 
horses attached, and a caisson of ammunition. He was cut 
off from return to his own army, pursued, and forced to seek 
Ben Butler of the Army of the James, and his command had 
to be shipped back by steamers to the Army of the Potomac. 
He says in his oflQcial report, that learning Hampton "was 



44 Hampton and Reconstruction 

after him" — as he expressed it — "with a large force of 
mounted infantry and cavalry, and four pieces of artillery," 
who had attacked him the night before, he "decided to move 
by the nearest route to General Butler's lines at New Kent 
Courthouse." The "large force" numbered, after deducting 
the necessary details for scouts and pickets, less than three 
hundred men. The losses oflflcially reported by Kilpatrick 
on his expedition were 340. Meantime Dahlgren's small 
party had been otherwise destroyed, and Richmond was 
saved. Hampton was thanked for his succor thus rendered 
in a general order from the Commandant at Richmond. 

On May 11, 1864, J. E. B. Stuart, senior major-general of 
cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, was mortally 
wounded and died on the following day. General Hampton 
became by this event senior major-general of the cavalry. 
The generals commanding the other two Divisions — the 
Second and Third, his own being the First — would have to 
report to his headquarters, when their Divisions were under 
his immediate command, but otherwise to army headquarters. 
If considered a corps, all division commanders would report 
always to corps headquarters. On August 11, 1864, by 
"Special Order No. 189. vii," this drawback to the efliciency 
of the cavalry was removed, and he was assigned the com- 
mand of all the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
and division commanders were ordered to report to him. It 
is a pity this had not been done before. 

Taking command on May 10, 1864, Hampton assumed the 
responsibility for the cavalry in the hardest fought, most 
sanguinary, and most momentous campaign of that war — 
or of any other. How he acquitted himself, the results, and 
the commendations of General Lee illustrate. He com- 
menced at the battle of the Wilderness, closely succeeded by 
Spottsylvania, and followed by almost continuous fighting 
until the Thirty-days "Overland Campaign" of General 
Grant was ended by his final defeat at Cold Harbor, and the 
transfer of his army to the siege of Petersburg, with losses 
aggregating during that terrible month far over sixty 
thousand men — as many as Lee's entire army. During that 
awful month there was not a day that the cavalry was 



War 45 

not engaged, and picketing always where not fighting. 
Hampton seemed to be omnipresent, always at hand. For 
the cavalry it was hopeless fighting, too, and that is the most 
trying kind, for it well knew that it must always ulti- 
mately fall back daily before vastly superior numbers, its 
duty being to check, as much as possible, and develop the 
position of the opposing army, and allow its own infantry 
and artillery time to come up. 

To appreciate what Hampton accomplished, when in com- 
mand in 1864, it is necessary to have some idea of what his 
means of carrying on the struggle were, compared to those of 
his opponent ; of what his resources were in number of men, 
subsistence, equipment as to arms, and supply of horses and 
forage. 

The regular rations intended for each man daily were a 
half pound of bacon, or salt pork, and a pint of corn meal, 
or flour, but frequently this was from necessity reduced to 
one half, and even^his often could not be had for days to- 
gether. This was all ; no tea, coffee, sugar, or any stimulant. 
No foraging was allowed. Now and then "bull beef" would 
be issued instead of bacon; and, in winter quarters, but not 
until then, inflnitesimally small doses of sugar and coffee 
were doled out. 

In armament, the cavalry had usually only muzzle-loaders, 
whereas its opponents were armed with excellent magazine 
(breech-loading) rifles. Some Sharp's single-shooting, 
breech-loading carbines, which had been captured, were used, 
but there were few of them and they were very poor weapons. 
But not only were the rifles used by Hampton thus inferior 
in class, but frequently they were not sufficient in number. 

The horse supply was another weak point. In the cavalry 
each man furnished, at his own expense, his horse, and when 
unserviceable, must supply another, which necessitated 
giving him a furlough home to obtain the remount, and this 
always at the most inconvenient time to spare him. 

In forage supply there were equal disadvantages. As to 
disparity in numbers of men, it is, of course, needless to point 
out that. 



46 Hampton and RECONSTBrcriox 

Hardly had the carnage at Cold Harbor ended, and Grant 
decided to abandon his attempts from that direction on Rich- 
mond, when Hampton was called upon for another supreme 
effort, perhaps the most important of his life, and one of the 
most important that any cavalry leader ever embarked upon, 
the result of which, if he had never achieved anything else, 
wotild entitle him to a place among the greatest of the world's 
commanders. Early on the morning of June S, his scouts 
reported that a large force of cavalry and artillery had 
crossed the Pamunkey Eiver, and were moving north. Hamp- 
ton at once signaled this news to General Lee, and dis- 
patched him a letter giving his interpretation of the move- 
ment ; that Sheridan's plan was to strike at Gordonsville and 
Charlottesville, to destroy the railroads and stores, and then 
to unite with Hunter, who was moving on Lynchburg. 
Assuming this to be the plan, he urged that he be allowed to 
endeavor to frustrate these purposes, and after full consulta- 
tion with him, General Lee agreed to this. 

General Hampton had read aright General Grant's inten- 
tions. General James H. Wilson was to be ordered out from 
Grant's left flank to destroy the railroads on the south of 
the James Eiver as far as Lynchburg. Hunter was directed 
to move up the Shenandoah Valley toward Staunton, and 
Lynchburg. Sheridan with two divisions of cavalry, with 
artillery, pontoon bridges and all the appointments of a 
powerf id flying column, was to pass around Grant's right and 
proceed by the way of Charlottesville to unite with Hunter 
and bear down upon Lynchburg, destroying all railroads and 
supply depots on his route and, on his return, the James 
River Canal. This was an admirably conceived plan, and if 
it had been carried out successfully would have necessitated 
the falling back of Lee from his line of defense at Petersburg 
and Richmond, and thrown open to Federal occupation all 
eastern Virginia and North Carolina, for the lines of com- 
munication being destroyed, the army would have been like 
a human body without arteries to maintain life. And there 
was good reason for Grant to suppose that the plan would 
succeed, for, as he was to besiege Petersburg, he could spare 
most of his cavalry and he knew that Hampton's force must 
be much depleted in both horses and men by the losses of the 



Was 47 

last month, and that, after all, there is a JimiL to the 
endurance of human nature. 

Hampton vas at Atlee's Station vriih. the First Division 
( after this called Butler's Division, because commanded by 
General M. C. Butler i. and Fitzhugh Lee with the Second 
Division at Cold Harbor. 

Hampton, with the First Division, in light marching order, 
but carrying, nevertheless, three days' rations, and horse-corn 
on saddles, hurried away on June 9, at daylight, and the 
Second Division was ordered to follow. Not a soul knew 
where they were going, not even the brigade commanders. 

This was to be a cavalry duel, pure and simple, there being 
no possibility of infantry supports for either side, if Hamp- 
ton caught up with Sheridan before the latter's junction with 
Hunter. Hampton's force did not exceed 4,700 men in Ms 
two divisions, and he had three batteries of horse-artillery 
numbering in all twelve guns. Sheridan had his First and 
Second Divisions, numbering about 9.000 men in all. and six 
batteries of four guns each, making twenty-fom* pieces in all. 
These figures are correct, not guess-work. It must be remem- 
bered, too, that they carried magazine rifles against Hamp- 
ton's muzzle-loaders. 

Although starting one day behind Sheridan. Hampton 
had the advantage of shorter interior lines, and rode lighter 
and faster, thus heading him off from his objective point, 
arriving on the evening of -June 10. at Green Spring Valley, 
three miles from Trevilian Station, the Second Division 
reaching Louisa Courthouse, five miles distant, at about the 
same time. On this evening. Sheridan crossed the North 
Anna Eiver at Carpenter's Ford, about sixty-five miles from 
his starting point, camping on the road leading to Trevilian 
Station, a few miles distant. Hampton had intended that his 
coming should be a surprise to his antagonist, and it was a 
surprise. A scouting party of Hampton's, sent out that night 
to ascertain definitely Sheridan's position, was supposed by 
the latter, as we learn from ofdcial reports, to have been 
merely some country militia, and the same was thought of 
Butler's division, when encountered the next morning. So 
far all had gone exactly as intended. 



48 Hampton and Reconstruction 

There was a burning drought just then, which had pre- 
vailed for weeks. The march had been a very hard one for 
men and animals. But in the evening the air was crisp and 
bracing, coming from the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge, which 
were lighted up by a glorious sunset, and the air was laden 
with the fragrance of clover. Then for the first time did 
officers and men know what was before them ; that they were 
to grapple by sunrise in a death struggle with more than 
double their number. 

Each look'd to sun and stream and plain, 
As what they ne'er might see again, 

and then peacefully smoked a pipe, cracked a joke or two, and 
lay down beneath the stars to sleep the sleep of the just — a 
sleep which was to have short waking for many a poor boy. 
Hampton introduced into the cavalry tactics of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, when he took command — a new de- 
parture. Previous to that time, the mounted operations 
had been those most practised: he made the dismounted 
fighting by far the most important feature, while equally, as 
before, preserving efficiency for mounted charges, picketing, 
and scouting. As a consequence of this he possessed 
mounted infantry, as staunch and effective as their brothers 
of the line, Avhich could be dispatched mounted from place to 
place with great rapidity, and "put in" and "drawn out" with 
dazzling suddenness, thus multiplying their effectiveness in 
a manifold degree, and creating, particularly in a wooded 
country, the impression upon antagonists of a very much 
larger force than really was present. Owing to the "property 
qualification" of being obliged to furnish their own horses, 
the troopers were usually of a higher average of quality than 
the run of the infantry, mostly coming from farms, or 
plantations, acquainted Avith country life, and knowing how 
to ride and shoot and take care of horses, or else they joined 
the cavalry from the towns generally because of possessing 
some sporting proclivity. In fighting, after being "put in," 
they deployed always in open-order, and the line was not 
usually rigidly held to mathematical accuracy, each man — 
though nominally "by the books" fighting as one of three 
"comrades in battle" — selecting for himself the best cover he 



War 49 

could find — a tree, log, rail-fence, ditch, or any irregularity 
in the ground, or even a bush, if nothing else offered — to 
furnish protection, behind which, lying at length on the 
ground, he would fire — never by "volley, always at will" — 
covering his object. Although slowness of fire Avas a terrible 
disadvantage with the muzzle-loaders, yet there was in expert 
hands a very much larger percentage of hits, and these were 
much more serious than wounds from the magazine rifle of 
those days, because the rifled-musket with Mini6 ball was 
more accurate and had a far greater range, and the ball was 
a heavier missile. Hampton, therefore, used his cavalry as 
a "jack of all trades," and "maid of all work" for the army, 
and when the siege of Petersburg settled down they manned 
the trenches on the extreme right flank. Unless otherwise 
stated, by a "charge," we always mean a dismounted charge, 
or operation. 

During the night of June 10, Hampton matured his plan 
of battle for daylight on the following morning. It had in 
view no less than the total destruction of Sheridan's two 
divisions, which, if accomplished, would have left Grant in a 
very awkward position, practically without cavalry, as the 
Third Division (Wilson's), operating toward Lynchburg 
on the south of the James River, was handled so roughly 
that it had to be reorganized before regaining efficiency. 

From Trevilian Station, near where Hampton was, in per- 
son, with the First Division (Butler's), a road ran in a north- 
erly direction to Carpenter's Ford on the North Anna River, 
and on this road was Sheridan, south of the river. The Sec- 
ond Division (Fitzhugh Lee) was near Louisa Courthouse, 
from which a road ran toward Carpenter's Ford, joining the 
Trevilian road at Clayton's store. A third road on the left, 
leading from Gordonsville, converged on the Trevilian road. 

Butler's Division was to proceed on the Trevilian road 
and attack. The Second Division was ordered to move down 
the Louisa road toward Clayton's store, and engage vigor- 
ously the foe, when met. A brigade from Butler's division 
(Rosser's) was placed to bar the passage of the Gordons- 
ville road. If carried out in the way intended, Butler's 



50 Hampton and Reconstruction 

division's right flank would cover and be covered by the Sec- 
ond Division's left flank, drawing Sheridan back as they 
advanced toward Clayton's store, where the two divisions 
forming a junction would strike on front and flank. 
Hemmed in and crowded together thus, with a river in rear 
and a bad ford, Rosser at the same time operating on the 
other flank, Sheridan would be destroyed. This was no wild- 
cat scheme, but a carefully planned, prudent, practicable 
measure, which ought to have been thoroughly successful, 
and would then have exerted a momentous influence at a 
critical juncture militarily, when public feeling at the North 
was very despondent. 

Butler's Division moved forward promptly in good style, 
met Sheridan's main force advancing on the road, engaged 
them, first checked, and then pushed them back, thus carry- 
ing out completely its part of the programme. But unhappily 
the Commander of the Second Division was not fortunate in 
performing his share of the enterprise, but moved so slowly 
and ineffectually that a large interval remained open between 
his left and Butler's right, perceiving which, Custer, a very 
alert ojBficer, pushed his brigade through the gap, thus getting 
in Butler's rear, stampeding his led-horses, and placing the 
division in jeopardy of utter destruction, as Sheridan's entire 
force was concentrated upon it, the Second Division (Fitz- 
hugh Lee) at this moment being isolated and out of action. 
So far from destroying Sheridan, it would have now been 
said by any ordinary observer, that Hampton himself was 
devoted to destruction. But never did he show in a greater 
degree military genius, and unswerving equanimity. With 
the rapidity of lightning, he took in the situation, and applied 
the remedy. Flinging Rosser's brigade mounted, like a thun- 
derbolt, upon Custer, he swept him back with much loss, and 
pushed him into the Second Division (Fitzhugh Lee), which 
then engaged him. The led-horses, wagons, and reserve 
caissons taken from Butler were all recaptured. Meantime 
Butler's Division was being fearfully pressed by Sheridan's 
entire command — except by Custer — and lost heavily, but 
in spite of this, Hampton drew them back, and took a posi- 
tion to the west on the Gordonsville road covering that place 



War 51 

and Charlottesville, never for a moment having abandoned 
the purpose of barring the way to Gordonsville. Any one 
else would, under the circumstances, have been quite content, 
if he could save the remnant of his force by getting away, but 
not so Hampton. He had come there to destroy Sheridan, 
failing which (through no fault of his) he was still unalter- 
ably determined to turn him back from his objective points, 
if he had to do it with one division alone. His natural eye 
for topography, developed in many a hunt, and since then put 
to practice in battle-fields, enabled him to seize at a glance 
a favorable place for making a resolute stand. Sheridan 
attacked, as he was compelled to do, if intending to continue 
his expedition, but made no impression, and desisted until 
the following day, when at about three o'clock in the after- 
noon, he renewed with great vigor, and finally, with despera- 
tion, making seven distinct and gallant charges all along the 
line, which were all repulsed. At about twelve o'clock that 
day, the Second Division Commander (Fitzhugh Lee) got 
up and reported. One of his brigades reinforced the left of 
the line, and the other made a detour and attacked on Sheri- 
dan's right flank. Sheridan was defeated with a loss of 695 
prisoners, and retreated back to his army without accomplish- 
ing any of the objects of his expedition. Hampton pursued, 
and inflicted considerable further injury, but was hampered 
by having no pontoon train, which he never possessed at any 
time, while Sheridan was well equipped in that, as in other 
respects. None of the railroad track was injured, except 
about two hundred feet, if so much, at Trevilian Station, 
which was as quickly replaced. Hampton had no infantry 
reinforcements and no infantry were at Gordonsville, or any- 
where nearer than Richmond. In his official report of this 
expedition made to General Grant, Sheridan says, "I regret 
my inability to carry out your instructions." The only result 
was some two hundred feet or less, of rails temporarily 
removed at Trevilian Station. On June 25, General Lee 
wrote to General Hampton thanking him and his command 
for causing Sheridan's "expedition to end in defeat." The 
official report of General Hampton commends the Second 
Division Commander for his conduct in the evening of the 



52 Hampton and Keconstruction 

Sunday (last da.y) fighting, but generously makes no refer- 
ence to the first day. 

Sheridan having crossed to the south side of the James 
Eiver, and rejoined his army, Hampton quietly crossed, too, 
for Lee had other and immediate work for him. General 
James H. Wilson with his own, and Kautz's Division of cav- 
alry, numbering together 6,714 "effective mounted men," had 
been sent on June 22, by Grant to destroy Lee's lines of 
communication on the south side of the river, as has been 
stated was the plan in connection with Sheridan's operations 
on the north of the James. This latter plan was based upon 
the supposition by General Grant that Sheridan would be 
able to detain Hampton from molesting Wilson. Indeed it is 
merely justice to Wilson to add that he had only expressed 
the opinion that he could attain the objects desired, pro- 
vided Hampton were prevented from following him. Wilson 
having had several days head-start, succeeded in doing some 
harm to the South Side Railroad and collected about 5,000 
horses, according to Federal reports, in spite of the gallant 
efforts against him made by W. H. F. Lee with a portion of 
his division (Third), an inadequate force in numbers. At 
Staunton River Bridge he was turned back, or decided to go 
no farther, but unhappily in returning he was to encounter 
Hampton. He fortified, as well as he could, when attacked, 
but the result was rout, with the loss of over 1,300 prisoners, 
all the horses and other property taken from the inhabitants, 
and all his artillery, consisting of sixteen pieces, and all his 
wagons. The remnant of his troopers, many having been 
killed and wounded, reached camp eventually entirely disor- 
ganized, and broken up as a command. If the oflflcer in 
charge of the Second Division had realized the importance 
of keeping closer in touch with his commanding general, thus 
being an integral part of a complete whole, rather than an 
independent unit, it is probable that hardly a man of Wil- 
son's but would have been entangled in the meshes of the net 
which Hampton was drawing. 

Thus had Hampton ended the project to starve out the 
Army of Northern Virginia by destroying its lines of com- 
munication. 



War 53 

Another remarkable performance of Hampton's was the 
cattle-raid in September, 1864, by which he brought into 
camp a herd of beeves sufficient to furnish rations of one 
pound of meat a day for forty days to fifty thousand men. 
If it had not been actually done, the exploit would be thought 
impossible, and yet it was not a wild, sensational affair, but 
wise and prudent, when you understand it. 

Near Coggin's Point on the James River, less than five 
miles east of City Point, and opposite to Westover, was a 
herd of 2,468 fine large beef-cattle belonging to the Army of 
the Potomac. This Hampton determined to capture. To 
do this, it would be necessary to go almost within a stone's 
throw of City Point, General Grant's headquarters, and the 
base of supplies for his army, where immense stores were 
kept. One would have supposed the locality to be safer from 
intrusion than Washington. It was behind the immense 
masses of infantry of the army, all the approaches carefully 
guarded; easterly an unfordable river — Blackwater — all 
picketed ; on the James Eiver, forts and gun-boats only three 
miles or so from the cattle-yards — within hail of General 
Grant's own headquarters. If before it had been done any 
soldier of either army had been asked if the deed were prac- 
ticable, he would have answered not more so than to capture 
the fortress of Gibraltar with a steam-launch. And yet it 
was practicable, in great measure because deemed by every- 
one impossible, and therefore never thought of. 

On September 14, Hampton started on this expedition, 
taking with him a very light flying column consisting of the 
Third Division, two detached brigades, and 100 picked men, 
in all about 3,000 troopers. He marched rapidly in a south- 
easterly direction, thus throwing hostile scouts off the trail 
of his intentions, no one in his own command among the men, 
or among the officers beyond the staff, knowing where he 
was going, and bivouacked quietly for the night. Making a 
very early start the next morning, he dashed forward on a 
nearly northerly route, thus going round the left flank of the 
Federals, and reached Cook's Bridge on the Blackwater 
River, during the day. He was now due south of Coggin's 
Point, and only ten miles from where he intended to break 



54 Hampton and Keconstruction 

through their pickets. The bridge at this point had been 
destroyed and it was for that very reason that he selected 
this place for crossing. He was aware that his opponents 
very well knew that he was possessed of no pontoons, and 
would therefore not keep as close watch, as they ought to 
have done in this direction. In a few hours at night a tem- 
porary bridge was constructed by the engineers, horses and 
men meantime resting and eating, and by midnight the river 
was crossed and the march resumed. About nine miles north 
of the Blackwater, near Sycamore Church, was the largest 
picket detachment nearest to the herd, about two miles 
further on, and to the right and left were smaller pickets. 
By an impetuous charge the large picket was demolished 
after a stiff fight, and scattered, and then the smaller ones 
dealt with in detail. By another detachment Hampton at 
the same time dislodged a post about three miles from Fort 
Powhattan on the James River, and held the roads to prevent 
relief from there, while another detachment rushed forward 
and seized the roads from City Point, thus preventing inter- 
ruption from that quarter. As much noise as possible was 
made, and everything in sight incontinently ridden down, in 
order to create a belief in large numbers and to produce 
a panic, in which great success was attained. Flying pickets, 
as well as fleeing "reliable citizens," reported "an immense 
force," and "more coming." General Kautz, whose cavalry 
was driven in, estimated the number with Hampton at 
14,000 men. Great alarm was felt on account of the immense 
stores in peril. To make matters worse. General Lee had, by 
pre-arrangement with Hampton, made a feint to divert atten- 
tion, and Butler's (First) Division did the same, and it 
looked on the lines as if a general engagement was inaugu- 
rated. General Grant was temporarily absent at Harper's 
Ferry, and General Meade, with the entire responsibility on 
his hands, was under great anxiety and excitement, making 
the wires hot in every direction with calls for help. It is said 
that he used some strong language, as he would sometimes 
do on occasion. No doubt he thought of curses as did the 
royal ladies — 

Let them have scope, though what they will Impart 
Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart. 



War 55 

General Hampton could not obtain relief in that way, for 
he never "swore like a trooper," or at all. Meantime Hamp- 
ton had some stores taken and some destroyed, in order to 
blind his opponents to his real purpose, and worked quietly 
at removing the cattle. This was easily done by dividing 
them into small herds, when they followed each other with 
docility. It was hardly later than eight o'clock a. m. when 
the withdrawal began toward Blackwater River, and before 
reaching the stream all portions of his command were united, 
when he crossed and destroyed the bridge. He kept the 
roads open with his cavalry and got his cattle safely to 
camp. Never was such a cheering heard, as burst from the 
soldiers, when they saw all those "Hampton steaks," and 
understood from where he had "lifted" them. General Lee 
wrote a letter complimenting and thanking him for this 
exploit and the valuable addition to the army's larder. In 
addition to the beeves, many horses, and eleven wagons were 
taken, and a considerable quantity of blankets and army 
stores was brought off, and many burned, and there were 
sardines, pickles, and the like, galore for many a day. The 
prisoners taken away amounted to 304; Hampton's entire 
losses to sixty-one. Grant remarked to Meade in a telegram 
from Harper's Ferry, that it was "a big haul." 

In conformity with the intention to give but a brief outline 
of Hampton's military career, only referring to a very few 
of the notable incidents illustrating his characteristics, the 
writer will now submit a short account of the salient features 
of the battle of Burgess Mill, as it is usually called, occurring 
on October 27, 1864. This battle has special historic interest, 
because it is the counterpart of that of Five Forks, which 
took place about five months later, and there the right flank 
of Lee's army was turned, which compelled the withdrawal 
from Petersburg and Richmond, and the extinction of the 
Confederacy. It also serves the writer's end by showing the 
distinguished ability displayed by Hampton with decisive 
effects upon the action fought. These battles were alike in 
all respects, save the results, as the reader will perceive, if he 
will follow this narrative assisted by a glance at a map. 



56 Hampton and Reconstruction 

It will be remembered, that the plan of General Grant's 
siege operations at Petersburg, after his assaults had been 
repelled, was to cut the lines of communication of Lee's 
army, and thus compel the withdrawal from Petersburg and 
Richmond — each of which was but part of a whole, in a mili- 
tary sense. To effect this purpose he had dispatched Sheri- 
dan and Wilson, but they were frustrated in their attempt 
by Hampton, as related. Grant then proceeded to press for- 
ward systematically on his left flank westerly to obtain pos- 
session of the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. There was 
persistent fighting for weeks for that object, and he finally 
effected it. The other line of communication left to Lee, and 
Avhich was essential to maintaining his hold on Petersburg 
and Richmond, was the South Side Railroad from Peters- 
burg, forming a junction at Burkeville with the Richmond 
and Danville Railroad, and thence south and west. The pos- 
session of this railroad was vital to Lee. In October, 1864, 
and for five months later, it was covered by the extreme right 
flank of the Army of Northern Virginia, the cavalry being 
concentrated, as far as possible, in that neighborhood to 
picket approaches and repel attacks, the works on Hatcher's 
Run, and contiguous ground being held by such infantry as 
could be spared for the purpose, as well as by dismounted 
cavalry in the outer trenches. 

Great discouragement was prevailing among the people at 
the North with the stationary position of Grant, and he 
was strongly urged by the authorities to move faster. Grant 
had replied by demanding reinforcements of 40,000 addi- 
tional men, and at the period of Avhich we are writing, these 
had been received. No more time could be lost, if anything 
of importance was to be achieved before the setting in of 
winter would put a stop to active operations. It was 
determined, therefore, to make the final great effort of the 
campaign. 

Orders were accordingly issued by General Grant to por- 
tions of his command to move out by half-past two a. m. on 
October 27, other bodies to march at later hours, depending 
upon position, so that the advance would encounter the op- 
posing forces at the desired point by the first daylight. All 



War 57 

the troops which could be spared from manning the fortifi- 
cations were employed, consisting of all of the Second, Fifth, 
and Ninth corps not left in the trenches, and Gregg's 
Division of Cavalry, the latter numbering 5,471 troopers 
after the battle, thus making the entire force about 40,000 
strong, provided with four days' rations, so as to hold the 
positions intended to be taken. Benjamin Butler on the 
north side of the river was instructed to deliver an attack 
there, so as to distract attention from the movement south 
of the river, and prevent the transfer of troops by Lee's short 
interior lines. 

The Federal force initiated the ojperation in admirable 
form. The Second Corps (Hancock's) had the left, march- 
ing down the Vaughan road to Hatcher's Run, the extreme 
right of the Confederate line, and in connection with this 
corps Gregg's cavalry operated. The task before them was to 
extend around Lee's right, and thus cut it off from the South 
Side Railroad. If this had been accomplished, the battle of 
Five Forks would never have taken place, for it would have 
been forestalled. It need not be pointed out, that the cover- 
ing of Lee's necessarily extended lines, with troops so 
wonderfully inferior in numbers to those of his antagonist, 
required — among other things — unsleeping vigilance in 
transferring sufiflcient force to the particular points attacked. 

By daylight on the morning of the 27 October, Hamp- 
ton's pickets were driven in all along his line, from Arm- 
strong's Mill on Hatcher's Run to Moncks-neck Bridge, on 
his extreme right, a distance of about two miles. Hancock's 
infantry crossed Hatcher's Run at the Vaughan road, and 
Armstrong's Mill, and Gregg's cavalry at Moncks-neck 
Bridge, two miles further south, at the juncture of Hatcher's 
Run and Gravely Run. 

General A. P. Hill, with a part of his corps and some of the 
cavalry, occupied the works on Hatcher's Run. 

I do not think it well to recount the details of the magnifi- 
cent cavalry (dismounted, and mounted) fighting of the day, 
for it would prolong this part of my narrative too much, and, 
besides, I have already written about it ("Hampton and his 
Cavalry in '64" ) , and the correctness of the account has been 



58 Hampton and Reconstruction 

approved by General Hampton. Suffice it to say, that up to 
four o'clock p. m. the cavalry under Hampton covered and 
successfully defended the right flank of Lee's army from the 
operations of Hancock's Corps, and Gregg's Cavalry, and 
without assistance, up to that time, from any source. With 
the stern, resolute determination of infantry, with the won- 
derful flexibility of mounted-infantry, Avith the lightning-like 
suddenness of light cavalry mounted, all combined in the 
same men, and with horse-artillery up to the line of battle, 
"covering themselves," and flashing their guns into the very 
faces of the foe, Hampton on that day safeguarded the life of 
the army. 

At four o'clock p. m., General Heth, of Hill's Corps, with 
his Division, crossed over Hatcher's Run and made an attack 
in concert with Hampton. As soon as Heth's rifles an- 
nounced that he was engaged, M. C. Butler charged with his 
whole line (dismounted) across an open field and drove the 
force encountered toward the Boydton road. At the same 
time W. H. F. Lee advanced down this road, his left uniting 
with Butler's right. The Federals were thus enveloped on 
three sides from a point on the Quaker road to Burgess mill- 
pond. Hancock was in this way driven from his position on 
the roads, became piled up in the fields east of the Boydton 
road, isolated from the support of the other corps — defeated 
and obliged to retreat after night had set in, back to the 
lines of his army. 

The operations of the two other Federal corps against the 
works effected nothing. In fact, when they struck the thick 
wooded country and the twisting of the runs, they became 
separated from each other and out of touch with Hancock's 
Corps, which caused considerable disputation afterward 
between the different corps commanders. To deploy troops 
in fields or open ground is easy enough, but in the woods 
it is quite a different matter. An officer not possessing 
some familiarity with wood-craft, is as much bewildered as 
a coal-heaver in a ballroom, and hence many defeats, and 
many thousand valuable lives frequently sacrificed. It was 
the intuitive and developed skill of Hampton in topography, 
that formed a great part of his strength in action. 



War 59 

So in this way the right flank of the army was hermetically 
sealed up against intrusion for five months. General Hamp- 
ton received thanks for himself and his command from Gen- 
eral Lee. 

There was a very sad occurrence that evening. As Butler 
swept forward to connect his right with W. H. F. Lee's left, 
Hampton was in front, and his son Preston, who was aide- 
de-camp on his staff, fell mortally wounded, and almost at 
the same moment another son. Wade, temporarily attached 
to his staff, was also struck down by a bullet. It was only 
possible for the General to stop an instant, leap from his 
horse, bend over Preston, kiss him tenderly, whisper some 
words in his ear, which only he and the angels heard, and 
then gallop on with his men. After daylight that morning 
the air had the fresh crispness of autumn, and the hoar-frost 
glistened like silver in the bright sunlight, and the forest 
leaves were gorgeous in color. It was a beautiful day until 
toward evening, when a cold wintry rain set in, and a black 
wet night followed. 

Not that in sooth o'er mortal urn 
Those things inanimate can mourn, 

but to the General, lying on the ground unsheltered beneath 
the cold, dripping sky, sleeplessly awaiting the morning to 
resume his arduous duties, the father's heart all the while 
with those two boys, one stiff and stark, as he knew, the 
other perhaps so too, it must have seemed that nature was 
mourning with him. Later on in this narrative I shall point 
out how, when his own spirit was hovering on the border- 
land of death, the father's heart seemed to go back to this 
dreary night. 

If the reader is sufllciently interested to look into the sub- 
ject further he will find that this battle of Burgess Mill is 
very similar in the main features to that of Five Forks, 
except that it was an incomparably more formidable demon- 
stration, and the tragic memories of the momentous result of 
Five Forks lend to this engagement a special importance. 

At the battle of Five Forks there were three Confederate 
divisions of cavalry, numbering in all about 7,000 men, about 
one-third more than Hampton could muster at Burgess Mill, 



60 Hampton and Reconstruction 

and nearly a third more than he had at Trevilian. Sheridan 
had but 13,209 men by returns, considerably less than double 
the Confederates, and the latter should have known the 
ground well. The Confederates faced nearly in the direction 
of Dinwiddle Courthouse, with Picket's Infantry in the 
centre, all the cavalry on the right, except one division, which 
was held in reserve north of Hatcher's Kun, and never made 
use of at all. The Federal infantry (Warren) came up the 
run (westerly) unobserved, turned Picket's flank, and getting 
in his rear, doubled him up. Thus was practically ended the 
war, and that this would not have been the case if Hampton 
had been in command, was General Lee's opinion, as will be 
seen from the following letter to General Hampton : 

New Cartersville, August 1, 1865. 
My Deae General, 

I was very much gratified at the reception of your letter of 5th ultimo. I have 
been very anxious concerning you, and could obtain no satisfactory information. 

*♦•**»•* 

You cannot regret as much as I did, that you were not with us at our final 
struggle. The absence of the troops which I had sent to North and South Carolina 
was, I believe, the cause of our immediate disaster. Our small force of cavalry 
(a large portion of our men, who had been sent to the Interior to winter their 
horses, had not rejoined their regiments) was unable to resist the united cavalry 
under Sheridan, which obliged me to detach Picket's Division to Fitz Lee's support, 
thereby weakening my main line, and yet not accomplishing my purpose. If you 
had been there with ail of our cavalry, the result at Five Forks would have been 
different. But how long the contest could have been prolonged, it Is diflScult to say. 
It is over, and though the present is depressing and disheartening, I trust the 
future may prove brighter. We must at least hope so, and each one do his part 
to make it so. 

That every happiness may attend you, and yours, is the earnest prayer of 

Your friend, R. E. Leb. 

The parts of this letter omitted are about matters having 
no connection with the quoted portion. 

At the time Five Forks took place Hampton was in North 
Carolina, commanding all the cavalry of Gen. Joseph John- 
ston's army. 

In January, 1865, the troops being in winter quarters, and 
the campaign ended, General Hampton was ordered to South 
Carolina to command all the cavalry of Johnston's army. 
While he had commanded the cavalry of Lee's army, the 
prisoners taken by his corps, and which were recorded in the 
returns, amounted to 11,000, but more than that number 
were captured, for many were unrecorded during very active 



War 61 

periods. By the returns of December 31, 1864, Hampton had 
in his command 7,063 men, but by the return of October 
20, 5,375 only, and it should be remembered that "present 
for duty" in Confederate reports meant those in camp, 
whether with or without serviceable horses. The last men- 
tioned figures certainly fully averaged the effective strength 
of his force during the campaign. 

When Hampton was ordered to South Carolina he was 
made a lieutenant-general. Butler's Division was then sent 
to South Carolina, but it numbered, by the return of Decem- 
ber 20, 1864, only 1,526 effectives. Hampton's Corps with 
Johnston's army was composed of this division, and that of 
Major-General Wheeler, the latter made up of troops from 
Hood's old army rendezvoused at Columbia, S. C. 

Columbia was an unfortified and ungarrisoned town. 
There was some little skirmishing, a few miles distant from 
it, with Sherman's advance, but the Confederate force was 
totally inadequate in numbers to cope with such an adver- 
sary. Consequently, early in the morning of February 17, 
all troops were withdrawn from the neighborhood. Hampton 
commanded the rear-guard, which passed through and left 
the town at a very early hour in the morning. The city was 
burned after dark on the same day, it having been formally 
surrendered by the Mayor and taken under safeguard by the 
Federal army more than eight hours before. At first there 
was a disposition, in some quarters, to attribute the burning 
to General Hampton's order, or to some part of the Con- 
federate army, which would amount to the same thing, as he 
was in command of the rear-guard, and, therefore, responsi- 
ble. To a man of his humanity, and whose ideal of a soldier's 
honor and duty was so high, this was very painful, and he 
indignantly repudiated the imputation. Indeed at first 
General Sherman charged the burning against Hampton, 
or his troops, but subsequently explicitly withdrew the 
charge, and it has been proved before the "Mixed Commis- 
sion," and otherwise, that it was set on fire at night on 
February 18. No cotton was set on fire during the day by 
the Confederate army, or by any one else, except by some 
Federal soldiers, who got hold of liquor on entering the town. 



62 Hampton and Reconstruction 

and mischievously stuck their cigars and pipes into some 
cotton piled in the streets, but they were at once arrested by 
their provost-guard and the fire entirely extinguished, and it 
amounted to nothing of importance, having no connection at 
all with the fire that night. It so happens that the writer 
himself rode into the town after all troops had been with- 
drawn, and as the Federal column was about entering, and 
the cotton was not then fired, nor were there any persons, 
white or black, in the streets, all having retired within doors. 
Moreover, with a small detachment, he remained for several 
hours after the Federal column had been seen to occupy the 
town, up to after two o'clock p. m., on a hill beyond the Char- 
lotte depot overlooking the city, and could not have failed to 
observe any fire had there been any up to that time ; but there 
was none. 

General Hampton remained in command of the cavalry 
corps of Johnston's army until the cessation of hostilities. 
During the march of the hostile army he accomplished very 
much in curtailing the swath of destruction, and in saving 
property by assisting in its removal, many horses and much 
stock being preserved and returned to the inhabitants after 
Sherman's columns had passed by, thus enabling the poor 
people to plow their fields and obtain after a while sub- 
sistence. The sufferings of those living along the route were, 
however, terrible to witness, particularly those of the women 
and children, and no conscientious men made cognizant of 
them by personal contact, but would forever afterward 
oppose the initiation of all wars not purely defensive in their 
nature: it would cure all good men of any imperialistic 
sentiment previously entertained. 

Only one incident showing "Hampton's way" during this 
period will be here given. The ninth of March had been a 
rainy day and the night was very dark. Early in the evening 
before the halt was made for the night bivouac, a picket of 
about forty men coming from the opposite direction was met, 
and made prisoners in the darkness without the firing of a 
shot, or any other noise. Until too late they thought them- 
selves among friends. It turned out to be the detachment 
sent out by Kilpatrick, commanding the cavalry of Sherman's 



War 63 

army, to picket that road for the night, he having gone into 
camp not far distant. Scouts at once dismounted, and felt 
their way cautiously down the road, and to the camp, finding 
no guard between, every one there relying in perfect security 
upon the picket, which had been captured. All night long 
the scouts lurked in the cover, reporting the camp undis- 
turbed, having quietly captured two or three men on their 
way to the picket station. Hampton conferred with Butler 
and Wheeler, and communicated to them his plan, and gave 
them instructions in detail. The opportunity presented was 
just what was desired, for Kilpatrick was endeavoring to 
block the roads leading to Fayetteville on the Cape Fear 
Eiver about eight miles distant, and Johnston wished to 
pursue that route. 

Butler's division remained during the night near the road, 
no fires, or even pipes being lighted, all talking prohibited. 
Each man sat on the ground holding his bridle-rein and 
keeping his horse from conversing with his friends in whin- 
nies, as they are inclined to do when perceiving something 
unusual afoot, or when scenting danger, 

steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs 
Piercing the night's dull air. 

At the first faint streak of daylight Butler was to strike, and, 
on hearing him, Wheeler was to cooperate from his position, 
which would be at about right angles to Butler, thus envelop- 
ing their antagonist on the two sides not contiguous to his 
infantry. On the third side was an impenetrable swamp. 

Just before daylight the regiments of Butler, intending to 
attack, moved out on a slow walk and proceeded to within 
about two hundred yards of the outskirts of Kilpatrick's 
camp, and quietly halted there. Gradually the first faint 
light preceding dawn began to be perceptible. As it had 
rained all the day before and most of the night, the ground 
was wet and soft and the air charged thick with vapor, 
serving to muffle sounds. There was profound stillness, ex- 
cept for two little birds disturbed in their morning nap twit- 
tering alarm from the dripping bushes, while the ghostly 
pines, shrouded almost to the ground in mist, were all that 
sentineled the sleepers near by. The rest of the division 



64 Hampton and Reconstruction 

remained where it had bivouacked, and was deployed dis- 
mounted to act as a reserve, or repel a possible counter- 
attack. 

At length Butler rode quietly to the head of the column, 
uncovered his head and cried: 

"Forward ! Charge ! Troops from Virginia, follow me !" 

With irresistible, sudden impact the regiments were hurled 
horse and man into the profoundly sleeping camp. It was 
as if supernatural foes had leaped up among them from the 
bowels of the earth. Awaking in wild alarm, trampled by 
horses' hoofs under their flies, bewildered and half asleep, 
while horses rushed over them, pistols flashed, and sabres 
swished like devil's music, they fled pell-mell they knew not 
where, if fortunate enough to get away. A wild sight it was 
— one never to be forgotten. 

There could not have been a more complete and successful 
surprise. Kilpatrick himself, whose headquarters were near 
the point of entrance, escaped in shirt and drawers, not being 
recognized in the dim light. This opening was supported by 
a portion of the reserves, and the entire camp was in Hamp- 
ton's possession. Unfortunately Wheeler's troops, which 
were expected to be up by this time, were detained in getting 
through some wet ground, and did not cooperate, as had been 
intended. They, however, made a good showing in assisting 
in covering the withdrawal from the camp. 

The fugitives carried the news to the nearest infantry, 
which was set in motion on the double-quick for their pro- 
tection, and they themselves soon rallied very well, Kilpat- 
rick acting gallantly. Then a sharp fight ensued, while 
prisoners and a large number of captured horses were 
removed by Hampton. The artillery and most of the wagons 
could not be got off in time, because the horses pertaining to 
them had been stampeded and much of the harness was gone. 
A considerable number of arms and accoutrements were 
secured. There were released 173 Confederate prisoners, and 
over 500 Federals were carried off, which was about half of 
Butler's effective force at the time. Kilpatrick's Corps num- 
bered about 5,000 ; Wheeler's division about 3,000, if it could 
have been gotten together at one time. 



War 65 

This affair pretty badly demoralized Kilpatrick's Corps. 
He said of it in his official report : 

"Hampton led the centre division (Butler's) and in less 
than a minute had driven back my people and taken posses- 
sion of my headquarters, captured the artillery, and the 
whole command was flying before the most formidable cav- 
alry charge I ever have witnessed. Colonel Spencer and a 
large portion of my staff were virtually taken prisoners." 

This effectually opened the roads to the Cape Fear River. 
General Hampton said that the returns of prisoners captured 
by his corps during the campaign in the Carolinas were quite 
incomplete, owing to irregular attention to these matters in 
some quarters, and the loss or destruction of papers conse- 
quent upon the break-up, but that the number was between 
three and four thousand. 

When Mr. Davis was on his route southward from Rich- 
mond, accompanied by some of the members of his cabinet 
and by his family, General Hampton wrote to him from 
Hillsboro, N. C, under date of April 19, of which letter the 
following are extracts : 

The military situation is very gloomy, I admit, but it is by no means desperate, 
and endurance and determination will produce a change. There are large numbers 
of the Army of Northern Virginia who have escaped, and of these many will return 
to our standard, if they are allowed to enter the cavalry service. Many of the 
cavalry, who escaped, will also join us, if they find we are still making head 
against the enemy. 

****** 
Give me a good force and I will take them safely across the Mississippi. 
****** 
I write to you, my dear sir, that you may know the feelings which actuate many 
of the officers of my command. They are not subdued, nor do they despair. 
****** 
If you will allow me to do so, I can bring to your support many strong arms 
and brave hearts. 

Not hearing from Mr. Davis in reply. General Hampton 
went to Greensboro, proposing to go from there to Salis- 
bury to meet him, but learning that he was not at the latter 
place, wrote him a letter dated April 22, from which we 
quote : 

I came here intending to go to Salisbury to see you, but hearing that you are 
not there, I am not able to reach you at present. 



66 Hampton and Reconsthuction 

If you should propose to cross the Mississippi, I can bring many good men to 
escort you over. My men are in hand and ready to follow me anywhere. 

• • • • • • 

My plan is to collect all the men who will stick to their colors, and get to Texas. 
I can carry with me quite a number, and I can get there. 

On April 22, General Hampton received the following 
telegram from Mr. Davis — either in answer to the letter just 
quoted from, or to the first one : 

Letter not received. Wish to see you as soon as convenient. Will then confer. 

The word "not" is probably a telegraphic error for "just." 
There Avere other communications between them, when on 
April 26, Mr. Davis wired from Charlotte, N. C. : 

If you think it better, you can, with the approval of General Johnston, select 
now, as proposed for a later period, the small body of men, and Join me at once, 
leaving General Wheeler to succeed you in command of the cavalry. 

The meaning of "the small body of men" is, that Hampton 
had proposed to join Mr. Davis with a mounted force number- 
ing at least 5,000 men, and Mr. Davis had objected to so large 
a column for his escort, on the ground that it would attract 
attention and pursuit, have difficulty in foraging, and not be 
sufficiently mobile. 

General Hampton met Mr. Davis at Charlotte, and, after 
a full consultation, the latter approved of the plan suggested, 
and gave the General a letter authorizing him to join him 
with all the men willing to volunteer, and take as many of the 
artillery and wagon-horses as might be deemed advisable, for 
mounts. Having received this authorization from his com- 
mander-in-chief, Hampton returned to Hillsboro to carry 
out the plan agreed upon, arriving there at eleven o'clock 
p. m., April 26, and found that the army had surrendered. 
This defeated the plan, for Hampton, of course, recognized 
that the convention entered into by Johnston and Sherman 
included his command — the entire cavalry corps present. 
He then informed General Johnston, that, being absent at the 
time under special orders from the commander-in-chief, he 
did not consider himself embraced in the surrender, and that 
he would at once endeavor to join Mr. Davis, but would take 
none of his command with him. Learning that a large part 



War 67 

of his meu had refused to surrender and had left the camp, 
he sent a courier after them with orders to halt, until he 
could come up with them, and at twelve o'clock midnight 
left his headquarters, accompanied by several of his staff, 
and seventeen scouts and couriers. At sunrise he came up 
with the men to whom he had sent orders halt, and 
besought them to prove themselves then, as they had done 
throughout the war, good soldiers, by obeying the command 
of General Johnston by whom they had been surrendered, as 
part of his army. He assured them in most affecting words, 
that he knew they were ready to share his fate, but that this 
they could not honorably do, as they had been surrendered 
with the army, but that he himself was acting under the 
orders of the commander-in-chief, and could therefore join 
him. The writer was not present, but has been informed by 
those, who were there, that it was a most impressive and 
pathetic scene, old soldiers with tears streaming down their 
faces, and many sobbing like children, the General's eyes wet 
and his voice shaking with emotion. 

After having thus taken leave of his old comrades, many of 
whom had been with him since the beginning of the war, 
Hampton pushed on toward Charlotte, accompanied only by 
the men attached to his headquarters originally following 
him from camp, expecting to find Mr. Davis at that place, 
but on reaching there in the evening, it was discovered that 
he had left for Yorkville, S. C, about thirty-five miles distant. 
Leaving his escort, whose horses were tired out, at Charlotte, 
Hampton procured a fresh horse, and at once pressed on 
alone to Yorkville, swimming the Catawba Eiver during the 
night, and arriving at Yorkville at two o'clock a. m. only to 
find that Mr. Davis was reported gone to Abbeville, S. C. 
Thus disappointed in overtaking Mr. Davis and not knowing 
his plans of route, Hampton dispatched a letter to him by 
General Wheeler, whom he met at Yorkville, and also sent 
two couriers with communications for him, but all these 
failed of reaching him. 

Thus, faithful to the last, but hearing nothing further from 
Mr. Davis, General Hampton eventually accepted a parole in 



68 Hampton and Reconstruction 

accordance with General Lee's views that resistance was to 
cease, and, from that moment, there was no man. South or 
North, more sincere in accepting the legitimate results of the 
war, or in using his influence more conscientiously to bring 
about a Union restored in good faith and fraternal feeling. 



Reconstruction in the South 69 

CHAPTER THIRD 

Reconstruction in the Southern States 

A pilot ! God, a pilot, for the helm is left awry, < 

And the best sailors in the ship lie there among the dead ! 

— Sidney Lanier. 

At the end of the war of 1861-65 began the Reconstruction 
Period, which lasted in South Carolina over ten years, if we 
consider the Hayes-Tilden election as its termination. It is 
necessary for the reader to have a clear general conception of 
the condition of affairs in the State during that period in 
order to appreciate the priceless services rendered by Hamp- 
ton to his country. In trying to effect this, the writer will 
give a mere outline of the situation before the State and Pres- 
idential contest of 1876, and only sufficient details of that 
time to illustrate the value of what Hampton accomplished. 
This he will do in the spirit of candor and truth, without 
exaggeration, and free from intended offense to anyone. 

The war ended, as everyone knows, by the surrender in the 
spring of 1865 of all the organized armies of the Confederacy. 
It is characteristic of men imbued with the true military 
spirit, to fight hard, to the death, if you like, but, when sur- 
rendering, to do so in good faith, without any mental reserva- 
tion whatever, accepting as irrevocably settled the points 
which have been at issue. It is not of this nature to com- 
plain and regret, still less to plot and conspire. The 
true soldier, after a fair fight, and his acknowledgment of 
defeat, has an inclination to shake hands and "make up," 
expecting his adversary, to be possessed of a like generous 
feeling. The Southern armies were composed of true soldiers, 
as they had proved on many a field, and when we say "the 
Southern Armies," we mean the Southern people, for the rest 
were not of sufficient consequence, either in numbers, or 
character, to be worth considering. Moreover the Southern 
soldier knew full well that, with good cause, his name and 
fame were engraved for all time in the memories of brave 
men everywhere, and that he did not come home to his family 
like a whipped cur, but to be welcomed there as a hero by 



70 Hampton and Reconstruction 

mother and sisters, wife or sweetheart, so that he was spared 
personally much of the bitterness of defeat. Then, too, the 
great mass of them were Americans — far more generally so 
than was the case with the Northern armies chiefly recruited 
from foreigners, or those of near alien descent — a race, which 
had comparatively lately conquered their homes from the wil- 
derness with their own sturdy arms, and finding them again 
and again devastated by the savage, had always returned 
there to rebuild before the ashes were cold, and to run a 
furrow in the fields still wet with the blood of the red man. 
In the same resolute spirit they returned now to their homes 
equally devastated, determined to recreate their fortunes, as 
best they could. If you desire confirmation of this in sub- 
stance, read the report of December, 1865, made to President 
Johnson by General Grant, on his return from a trip to the 
South, where he had been sent chiefly for the purpose of ascer- 
taining the sentiments of the people there, and surely he 
cannot be suspected of overstating the case. You will never 
find, I think, search the pages of history as you may, at the 
end of any sectional or civil war, a brighter prospect of quick 
pacification, complete reconciliation, and speedy rehabilita- 
tion. Even the abolition of negro slavery was not as sore 
a subject, as many suppose it to have been, for at least four 
fifths of the Southern people were not slaveholders, and had 
been fighting for independence, not negro slavery; many of 
them in their hearts were not sorry that the perpetual, worri- 
some, political wrangle over the negro would thus be ended 
forever, as then they supposed it would be. 

The points which had been at issue and which had been 
conceded by the South by the surrender, were primarily the 
right of secession and incidentally the right to own negro 
slaves, but they had not given up their inherent rights, as 
Americans, to life, liberty, and property — other than that in 
negro slaves — while rendering obedience to the laws of Con- 
gress passed in accordance with the Constitution of the 
United States. This was the agreement — a mutual one — as 
evidenced by the words contained in the paroles. This was 
the well-known programme of Mr. Lincoln for "reconstruc- 
tion," and it was that of Mr. Seward, Governor Andrews of 



Reconstruction in the South 71 

Massachusetts, and similar statesmen, as also that of General 
Sherman and of General Grant, until the latter threw in his 
fortune with the party that originated the policy embodied 
in what are known as the Reconstruction Acts. There can be 
no doubt at all that, if the Confederate armies had known 
what awaited them at the hands of those whom they trusted 
in good faith, they would never have laid down their arms. 
General Lee, whose opinion will doubtless be accepted on 
this point as representative of his section, when in Charles- 
ton while traveling for his health not long before his death, 
was asked whether he would have surrendered, if at that 
time he had foreseen the frightful condition of affairs, which 
was to ensue, caused by the Reconstruction Acts. Drawing 
up his still commanding figure to its full height, with flushed 
face and kindling eyes, he replied : 

"No, sir! never! never!" 

It is useless now to investigate the animus that brought 
about the policy referred to, and I have no intention of doing 
so. It is immaterial how much was due to an honest misun- 
derstanding of the South, and how much to mere distrust; 
how much was owing to want of knowledge of the true nature 
of the negro, and how much to anxiety lest he be ill-treated 
by the white population; how much to a cold political pur- 
pose to establish permanently a "solid South" in the interest 
of the then dominant faction through negro supremacy, and 
how far party discipline and dread of being ostracized 
deterred opposition, that could have prevented the worst 
excesses. 

We do not know what proportion of each of these ingre- 
dients went to the making up of the bomb, but we do know 
that it shattered society at the South, almost destroyed the 
elementary bonds of the social compact, and has crippled her 
progress for fifty years or more. 

A measure more unspeakably cruel to the negro race than 
emancipation, as it was managed, cannot be conceived. I 
am not condemning emancipation in itself, but the manner 
in which it was effected. I believe that the time had come 
for emancipation in the South, just as it had come a few 
years earlier in the Northern States, and for precisely the 



72 Hampton and Reconstruction 

same reasons — not for moral but for industrial reasons — 
because negro labor was so much inferior to white labor that 
it kept back the material and, through that, the intellectual 
growth of the South. But if emancipation with compensa- 
tion to owners (which it is known jMr. Lincoln favored) had 
been adopted in an equitable spirit, on a principle akin to 
eminent domain, the then existing cordial relations between 
the two races would have continued, and under friendly 
guidance the negro would have remained happy and attained 
the highest moral and physical development of which he is 
(or, rather, was,) capable. But, instead of this, the plan 
adopted by the anti-Lincoln faction was a combination of 
vindictiveness toward the whites, and to the negroes the 
color of philanthropy "cheaply" effected altogether at the 
expense of the whites, but which in the end proved very 
"dear" to the entire country. Thus several millions of a race 
stamped inferior by nature, intellectually as helpless as 
children, accustomed only to daily "tasks" so light that they 
would have been laughed at by an average white laborer, 
and innately indolent, were turned adrift into the cold world 
to make the struggle for existence in competition with the 
superior race. The only real, comprehending friends they 
ever had, the Southern whites, who could and would intelli- 
gently and sympathetically have helped them, were placed 
against their will in a position of hostility, and the poor 
negroes were mercilessly turned over by their new "friends" 
to the exploitation of cranks, carpet-baggers, scalawags, and 
mulattoes, the latter inheriting some of the intelligence, and 
all the vice and rascality of the lecherous white blood from 
which they sprang. Then the ever-ready aid of those con- 
genial missionaries of "civilization," alcohol and lust, was 
called in to honeycomb them with loathsome disease, which 
has poisoned for all time the blood of a frightfully large per- 
centage of the race, and rendered them in spite of themselves 
degenerates, unable to do good work, even if willing. The 
result was just as certain beforehand as it is the due working 
out of a chemical formula, and this was earnestly pointed out 
at the time. But the "experiment" at the expense of others, 
the vivisection of the "specimen," was taken up with as much 



Reconstruction in the South , 73 

light-heartedness as would be shown by a young medical 
student in dissecting a frog, and with as little sense of moral 
responsibility as children playing with matches in a powder 
magazine. 

And the end is not yet, for the grievous wrong done the race 
is irreparable. The last refuge for the negro from being 
extirpated by the vigorous white immigrant is in those parts 
of what is sometimes called the "black belt," where in 
swanlpy, undrained lands malaria holds high carnival during 
the summer months. Booker Washington (who for obvious 
reasons always speaks of himself as a "negro," when in fact 
a mulatto) foresees this full well, as evinced by recent utter- 
ances. But when these same lands are drained, malaria is 
eliminated and the song of the mosquito stilled forever. The 
climate then becomes healthful and pleasant all the year 
round, and the soil is second in fertility to none in the world. 
All these now malarial sections eventually will be effectively 
drained on a large scale — if not by the present owners, then 
by new-comers, for the cupidity of mankind can be trusted 
for that. Then they will become densely populated by an 
industrious, hardy yeomanry, eager in the struggle of life, 
and, as new-comers, without any sympathy for the negroes, 
a sentiment which has never been eradicated from the hearts 
of the original soil-owners. If it be asked what will then 
become of the negro, the answer is, what has become of the 
Indian? 

The fact is that emancipation without compensation is 
based upon the principle that the will of the majority of the 
people (that is to say, the will of the majority of those 
allowed to vote) is the supreme law vested rights, constitu- 
tions, and statutes to the contrary notwithstanding; that 
private and corporate property are not held by any natural 
right, but by a privilege granted under the social compact, 
which is revocable at the will of the people, those termed 
owners being in reality only temporary trustees for their 
principal, the people. This doctrine, which is as old as the 
hills, has naturally never been a favorite with the "trustees," 
but they have been always reluctantly compelled to obey the 
de facto government, and give up unto Caesar the things 



74 Hampton and Keconsteuction 

which he says are his. Not only emancipation, but much 
other legislation in this country, and a great deal in Eng- 
land also in recent times, can only be legalized on this prin- 
ciple. It applies, of course, in full force to the proposed 
expropriation of unduly large private and corporate estates. 
The indirect effect of these measures will be to generalize 
property, but the immediate result, the appropriation by gov- 
ernment of vast sums, which can be employed in public 
utilities, among others the furnishing free transportation to 
Africa for negroes and giving them when there the long- 
promised "forty acres and a mule." It is a solution of the 
"negro question" quite in harmony with "the eternal 
verities." 

There can now be no doubt that President Johnson con- 
scientiously endeavored to carry out in good faith the well- 
defined policy that Mr. Lincoln had bequeathed to him, 
but he could not stem the tide let loose by Thaddeus 
Stevens and Oliver P. Morton, and there was no other able 
to do it, and but few inclined to make the attempt. Mr. 
Johnson was honest and patriotic, but wanting in tact, tem- 
per, and judgment, and without the commanding prestige of 
Lincoln, who, kindly in nature, firm of will, and beneficent in 
purpose, might have stayed the hand upraised to smite the 
defenseless. The" vile, cowardly assassin, an outsider to the 
South, a wretched non-combatant, he, who at the most 
momentous point of the crisis, murdered in cold blood the 
best friend the South then possessed, by the consequences 
of that fiendish crime consigned many another man to a death 
of despair, broke many and many a poor Avoman's heart, con- 
demned countless children to mature, if at all, dwarfed 
mentally and physically for Avant of normal nutriment. 

As soon as practicable after the disbandment of the 
Southern armies civil governments were organized in the 
previously seceded States, and these communities admitted 
to their former rights of statehood under Mr. Johnson's (or, 
rather, Mr. Lincoln's) programme, after they had renounced 
the right of secession and accepted the abolition of negro 
slavery. In the interests of society and property Federal 
troops were maintained there in sufficient force to ensure, 



Keconstruction in the South 75 

if necessary, tranquillity, a measure the wiseness of which 
was not doubted by any one, in view of the feeling of unrest, 
and socialism among the negroes, stirred up chiefly by the 
emissaries of the Preedmens' Bureau, with free rations and 
promises of "forty acres and a mule." The result was a sort 
of quasi-civil government. 

It became necessary, as well for the good of the negroes, as 
of the whites, in fact absolutely indispensible, to define the 
rights and responsibilities of the blacks under the new order 
of affairs. The Freedmen's Bureau, though in its origin 
beneficent in intention, did much more harm than good to the 
negroes themselves. By free rations they were encouraged to 
be idlers and vagrants, and by constant interference between 
them and the whites, and the creation of demagogue "carpet- 
baggers," the mutual kindly regard for each other originally 
entertained was weakened, or changed altogether. Good 
judgment would have dictated a course that could have left 
this unimpaired, as they were to live together in the same 
community, and as, in the long run, the racially weaker side 
would suffer most loss by the change. To organize society, 
therefore, upon a living basis for all concerned, statutes were 
passed by the State, which, if they had not been interfered 
with by Federal legislation, and had been modified, as they 
would have been, as time showed the propriety of doing so, 
would have greatly advanced the well-being of both races. 
Any one, who will now dispassionately and carefully examine 
the statutes referred to, will, I feel sure, come to this con- 
clusion. All the civil rights of the negro were secured under 
these laws, and the provisions as to labor and vagrancy were 
such as good judgment would provide and kindly feeling 
approve, if the characteristics of the negro were understood. 
Racial friction would have been avoided, and the blacks 
gradually and naturally developed into a capacity for citizen- 
ship. 

Under this government, though anomalous in character, 
and leaving much to be desired, yet all that could be expected 
during a temporary transition period, the whites took up 
earnestly and in good faith the struggle of life, and General 
Hampton among them. But he was handicapped by being of 



76 Hampton and Reconstruction 

the large number who were disfranchised, and was thus 
rendered unable to get possession of his landed estates for 
some time. His large, extended, and complicated interests 
were in South Carolina, and Mississippi, principally in the 
latter. States necessarily most upset by the changed condi- 
tions of labor, in consequence of the negroes outnumbering 
the whites. The problem presented was one very difficult of 
satisfactory solution, but, as far as labor was concerned, he 
was advantageously placed, as he was and always had been 
much looked up to, liked, and admired by the negroes, and 
their misleaders found it, throughout his life, a difficult task 
to poison the black man's heart against him. But, under 
such circumstances, reserve-capital required for running 
crop expenses destroyed, cash hard to obtain and only pro- 
curable, if at all, at high rates of interest ; with assets of all 
kinds diminished in value by emancipation and the losses 
incident to it, and liabilities ever increasing, it may easily 
be appreciated that success could have been attained only by 
a hard and patient struggle. Yet he was a man well fitted to 
gain the day in such a battle with fate, and would probably 
have succeeded, but for the overturning of President John- 
son's policy, and the substitution of chaos under the Recon- 
struction Acts. Then the majestic oaks went down uprooted 
in the storm, and he among the number, and the poor little 
saplings were blown prostrate on the ground. 

The Reconstruction Acts were passed over the President's 
veto, amid derisive cheers and uproarious shouts of laughter 
on the floor of Congress, and black night settled down upon 
South Carolina for a weary decade. The previously seceded 
States were divided into military districts, or proconsulates, 
each under the command of an army officer with absolute 
control over property and power of life and death, the writ 
of habeas corpus being abolished, as well as trial by jury, 
indictment or even accusation under oath not required, and 
appeal barred; all this without limit in time. Thus these 
Acts were originally passed, but, in order to ensure the two- 
thirds majority that would be required to pass them over 
the President's veto, they were modified to this extent — but 
only to this extent — that before actually putting to death a 



Keconsteuction in the South 77 

condemned man, the General Commanding must obtain the 
approval of the Executive just as now on courts-martial, and 
that, when these communities should be organized into 
embryo States under the General Commanding, and should 
present to Congress a Constitution acceptable to that body, 
and should accept the proposed Fourteenth Amendment 
(negro suffrage and partial white disfranchisement) not yet 
ratified by a sufficient number (two-thirds) of the Northern 
States to make it binding; that Congress might then, if it 
elected to do so, admit them, as States, into the Union, when 
military government would cease. Not long after this votes 
were had in Ohio and several other of the principal Northern 
States on conferring the right of suffrage on the negroes 
residing there, and the proposition was voted down by large 
majorities. In fact the Fourteenth Amendment was declared 
adopted through the thus obtained acceptance under duress 
of "Keconstructed States" admitted on this as a condition 
precedent. 

Relief applied for from the enforcement of these Acts, so 
patently subversive of organic law, could not be obtained by 
legal means, for the Supreme Court of the United States 
decided that political questions were involved, and that in 
such cases it was without jurisdiction, 

Morley ("Oliver Cromwell") in speaking of the tyrannies 
of Charles, says : 

"A stout-hearted merchant of the City of London brought 
the matter in a suit for false imprisonment before the King's 
Bench, There one of the Judges actually laid down the doc- 
trine, that there is a rule of law, and a rule of government, 
and that many things, which might not be done by the rule 
of law, may be done by the rule of government. In other 
words, law must be tempered by reasons of state, which is as 
good as to say, no law," 

A professor (Burgess) of political science and constitu- 
tional law in one of the greatest of our American universities, 
in lectures published in 1902 — assuming "State suicide," in 
spite of the impassible barriers in the way of his argument, 
such as Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, 
and others, as well as the natural rights of man in which all 



78 Hampton and Keconstruction 

these are rooted — gives it as his opinion, that a Congress 
representing only some of the States was acting within its 
legal powers, when assuming to legislate to deprive of life, 
liberty, and property the citizens of other unrepresented 
States. If this were correct doctrine, where would be for the 
physically weaker the aegis of fundamental law, including 
the right of representation? We should have "Thorough" 
indeed. It is too much the tendency of exclusively academic 
minds, busied with speculations in political ethics, to demand 
that facts shall conform to their theories, and if they do not 
conform, so much the worse for facts. The professor referred 
to thinks that the power of a legally constituted Congress 
to legislate for Territories furnishes a sanctioned precedent 
for legislation ( including, of course, taxation ) without repre- 
sentation. But the citizens of Territories, are not unrepre- 
sented. The Territories are composed, as far as Americans 
are concerned, of citizens from States, and they are repre- 
sented by these States, which are properly and constitution- 
ally legislating in Congress for the Territories, with the 
"consent of the governed," and for their welfare, until they 
form new States. This is, therefore, not a precedent of legis- 
lation without representation, and the same reasoning applies 
to martial law exercised within prescribed constitutional 
limits. Here it should be recalled that although representa- 
tion is an inalienable right of the American citizen, suffrage 
is not, and never has been so considered by anybody any- 
where, for nowhere have minors been alloAved the suffrage, 
and only in some few places has it been accorded to women, 
and then as a privilege, not as a right, although they are all 
citizens represented by the qualified voters through their 
chosen delegates. Bacon wrote three centuries before this, 
that "the use of the law consisteth principally in these three 
things": to secure the person (including, of course, his 
liberty), the property, and the reputation of the subject. But 
"the law" was either "common law" (immemorial custom, 
which implies original "consent" either direct or representa- 
tive) or else statutes of representative parliaments. 

It is well known that Thaddeus Stevens was the head and 
front of the opposition to Mr. Lincoln's policy of Reconstruc- 



Reconstruction in the South 79 

tion; that it was his masterful will, unrelenting purpose, 
and unquailing courage, that carried through Congress the 
Reconstruction Acts, and humbled Andrew Johnson to prac- 
tically a nonentity in the government, and only narrowly 
failed of consigning him to the infamy of a convicted traitor 
to his office. It was Thaddeus Stevens, whose stentorian 
voice issued the commands, his strong arm, which cracked 
the party whip, that kept subject to him the majority in 
Washington, and it was he who pronounced the doom of 
political death on all refusing to obey. His unswerving pur- 
pose was irretrievably to destroy the dominant race in the 
Southern States, and on its ruins to erect the rule of a 
population of hybrids. Against all pity for the unspeakable 
miseries to be inflicted, for tottering age, for helpless infancy, 
for the womanhood of his own race, his heart was relentlessly 
steeled. But what was the paramount passion, which must 
have shut his breast against human sympathy? Some have 
said that it was a vindictive feeling engendered by pecuniary 
losses sustained during the war; but this, though no doubt a 
contributing cause, totally fails to furnish an adequate 
explanation. Others have imputed his conduct to ambition 
of leadership; but this could much better and more easily 
have been acquired in other ways. Public plunder has been 
suggested as his motive; but there is no proof that he was a 
noted spoilsman personally, though using money lavishly for 
corruption purposes. What, then, is the true explanation? 
To answer this question we must lift the veil from his private 
life. This is only permissible where the private life of a 
public man furnishes the key to his course in public affairs. 
Then it is not only permissible, but the duty of the student of 
history to lift this veil as a guide — as a warning — to the 
future. 

The "colored" race (meaning those persons with half or 
a lesser proportion of negro blood) is the product of the lust 
of the Aryan race, which has never encountered an inferior 
one without some degrading illicit admixture. It shames 
the British rule in India; "Alas and alackaday" is the epi- 
gram on its lust and plunder. In America it "follows the 
flag." Indeed, the allurements of Circe, the daughter of the 



80 Hampton and Keconstruction 

Sun, were too much for even the "Saints," nor were they able 
to stop their ears to the seductive strains of tlie sirens. We 
find that to "deliver us from temptation" it proved necessary 
in the early days in Massachusetts to pass Exclusion Laws 
expelling all of the mixed blood. The necessity for so 
"heroic" a remedy — the driving out of their own flesh and 
blood — is evidence that satan was hot upon the trail of the 
"Saints." It was a crime no more general in the English 
colonies, which have now expanded into the Southern States, 
than on any other part of this continent, if estimated on the 
percentage of local population of the lower race. Here it 
had one redeeming feature, for it branded the lack of female 
chastity as the despised vice of an inferior race, and thus 
contributed in raising to a preeminently exalted standard the 
character of the Southern woman, the whitest and most fra- 
grant rose in Christendom. Still, it was the one and only 
spot on the fair escutcheon of the "old regime," and must be 
admitted. As to the negro, the conscience of the Southern 
man is at rest, for to him he has been and is a kind and 
uplifting friend. Would that there were an equal freedom 
from responsibility in the problem of the mixed race, but its 
existence is an indictment in the court of conscience to which 
he must plead guilty. His own race, as well as his spurious 
offspring, has paid the penalty — the innocent are saddled 
with the responsibility involved — for the status of the negro 
has been fixed by nature, but that of the colored people pre- 
sents dififlculties. Fortunately the number is comparatively 
small. This sin of the fathers has condemned the hybrid 
product to a position in the world which cannot but call 
forth pity from anyone possessing a human heart. The 
colored branch is fettered by its inferior blood to the negro 
race, whom they look down upon and often loathe — now and 
then with the despair of a vainly aspiring soul consciously 
pent up hopelessly in a body unworthy of it, the soul of the 
Aryan chained down to the physical attributes of the colored 
race; but, also, now and then with the pride of that Nemesis 
possessing the attractive beauty of the children of God but 
the spirit of the earthy black. On the other hand, the white 
blood in their veins, sometimes derived from masterful and 



Reconstruction in the South 81 

intellectual sources, makes them long with insatiable craving 
for social equality with the higher race, but they well know 
this to be hopeless. So they hang suspended between the 
hell, as they consider it, of negro degradation, and the unat- 
tainable heaven of white equality. Pitiable? Oh, pitiable 
beyond the power of words to express, because irremediable, 
so mercilessly does nature avenge her outraged laws. Some 
of them bear their cross in life in a subdued and chastened 
spirit; others make the best of the situation, take the happi- 
ness the world offers to them; others, again — and these are 
those, usually, inheriting most strongly the masterful and 
ambitious characteristics of the higher race — rebel against 
the inevitable, and there is a perpetual warfare going on in 
their hearts against their unfortunate fate. This resentment 
against the inexorable law of nature, which through their 
fathers' sin presses so cruelly upon them, often develops, by 
long-continued brooding, into an intense hatred of the white 
race and a corresponding contempt for the black. Under 
normal conditions these tires smolder unknown to others, but 
when a vent is provided they blaze up into devouring flames. 
Such a vent was provided by the Reconstruction era when 
Lincoln's policy was frustrated by Thaddeus Stevens and his 
associates. 

It is a law of nature, as fixed as that which makes the 
world turn on its axis, that where there is a permanent illicit 
connection between a man and a woman of markedly different 
moral status, one of two things happens: either the higher 
nature uplifts toward it the lower, or else the lower draws 
down to it the higher. The former very rarely happens, the 
latter almost invariably ; and in the case of Thaddeus Stevens 
this was necessarily so, for his mistress was a mulatto. In 
accordance, then, with this inexorable law of nature, he was 
dragged down in race sentiment to her level, and became 
as thoroughly saturated with hatred as she herself was. He 
thus was made her instrument for vengeance upon America 
through hybridization, of which the South was to be the first 
field. Through his mouth she thundered in Congress the 
vehement words which cowed the hearers into submission to 



82 Hampton and Reconstruction 

her will. Through his brain she forged the fetters, by his 
iron hand she fastened the manacles. 

When persons possessing markedly strong characteristics 
have left the plane of middle life and entered upon old age, 
those characteristics write their record in unmistakable 
marks on face, feature, and form. It is a process of the 
gradual molding of the exterior to conform to the nature of 
the soul. We have all of us in our own experience known 
people who in their youth had not a trace discernible of 
beauty, and yet became in later years transfigured into love- 
liness. Unfortunately the reverse is also true; the evil 
passions burn in their brand with hideous letters of flame. 
The latter was the case with Thaddeus Stevens. His picture 
engraved on the mind is terrible to look at, compelling a 
morbid fascination. He was an instance of the inevitable 
penalty exacted by natural law, and we try to turn away our 
eyes from the revolting sight. As in some of Rembrandt's 
works, from a dark, gloomy, portentous background we see 
the strong face of a man, originally in the image of God, stand 
out from the canvas with the Satanic expression of the fallen 
angel, and the memory we carry to our dying day 

Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate. 

It is a most remarkable thing, that the purpose of Thad- 
deus Stevens, parented, conceived and born of hatred of the 
white race, should have in fact brought to it a great moral 
gain, a result exactly the opposite of that intended by him. 
Instead of hybridizing the South; instead of converting it 
into a Haiti or Santo Domingo, his measures rent asunder the 
races, destroyed forever the former patriarchal feeling, and 
formed a public opinion deep in conviction and passionate in 
sentiment against all illicit association. Even upon those 
incapable of rising to this moral plane racial self-respect has 
imposed its will by decreeing such a connection to be "bad 
form," a social stigma, a bar, the badge of Circe's "swine" 
and the product the sign-manual of treason against Aryan 
blood. Thus was this smirch wiped from the face of the 
South. She 

hath mightily won 
God out of knowledge and good out of infinite pain 
And sight out of blindness and purity out of a stain. 



Keconstruction in the South • 83 

But history is never tired of bringing its surprises, pre- 
senting apparent anomalies, for truth is stranger than fiction. 
The Thaddeus Stevens faction not only tore to tatters Lin- 
coln's programme of Reconstruction, dashing in ruin his 
dearest hopes and aspirations, but also, besides this, during 
the eight years following Andrew Johnson's administration 
and until the people called a halt under Hayes's conscientious 
work, ran counter to almost every other ideal, which Mr. 
Lincoln cherished. Hence it came about that Lincoln, the 
true Lincoln, became an honored name at the South, whereas 
his picture was turned to the wall by the dominant faction 
in the other section. 

If Mr. Lincoln had remained at the helm of the ship of 
state he would have steered her aright, clear of the Charybdis 
of Reconstruction as he had kept her off of what he regarded 
as the Scylla of disunion. The opposite in nature of a vision- 
ary or fanatic, he was a man of strong practical common 
sense, which is as much as to say he possessed wisdom. 
Devoted to the preservation of the Union, because he sincerely 
believed it to be of paramount importance to the welfare of 
all, his devotion was the offspring of love of country, not the 
product of protectionist self-interest, or imperialist ambition, 
and he wished the end accomplished with the least prac- 
ticable dislocation of existing law. He had advocated before 
the war the exclusion of negro slavery from the Territories, 
knowing full well that this meant its ultimate extinction in 
all the States and was willing to see it abolished even by 
extra-legal means, when the time came with the triumph of 
the North, but in all this he was actuated only by a determin- 
ation to do his utmost, according to his lights, to preserve 
the Union, and not from any sentimental abstract love for the 
negro. Of Southern origin, he looked upon the negro as did 
the other plain people of the section from which he sprang, 
and to him negro social equality, or political power on an 
important scale, would have been as repugnant, as it was to 
the large land-owners, for whom — unlike Andrew Johnson — 
he did not entertain any personal animosity. Toward the 
"poor whites" of the South sectional feeling could raise no 
barrier in his heart against sympathy in their distress, for he 



84 Hampton and Keconstruction 

was one of them in blood. At the time of his death he was so 
strongly entrenched in the affection and imagination of the 
people of the North, that he would probably have been able 
to hold at bay Thaddeus Stevens and his followers — many of 
whom were very unwilling followers — and the great warm 
heart of the South would have gone out to him with a pas- 
sionate impulse of gratitude that would have bridged with 
the celerity of the pontoon and the durability of the granite 
arch the gulf of former misunderstandings. 

Let me try to illustrate one Southern soldier's feeling when 
realizing justice and magnanimity from a conqueror's point 
of view, though so different from his own. The man, who had 
previously served in the Army of Northern Virginia, was on 
detached service with the cavalry from Columbia to the final 
surrender of Johnston. Every day he had seen homes — the 
humblest ones, as well as stately mansions — causelessly 
burned without military reason, decrepit age, defenseless 
women, helpless infants turned out without shelter or food 
to the mercy of God alone. Each night he had witnessed the 
skies lighted up far and wide, a swath of flame, a hell on 
earth. There was hardly a day when he was not a spectator 
or participant in fighting. To run down "Sherman's Bum- 
mers," like wolves, seemed to him a sacred duty. He was an 
enthusiast, a fanatic, if you like. The contest ended, he 
regarded Sherman as the incarnation of all that is most hor- 
rible and detestable in unjustifiable methods of war. Years 
passed and he became an old man, but time had not modified 
his sentiments in this respect. Happening to be in New York 
after the unveiling of St. Gauden's statue to Sherman, he 
went to see it as a work of art — only because it had been 
executed by St. Gaudens — never having seen illustrations or 
read descriptions of it. When at length he looked at the 
statue, the feelings, which I have described, were never more 
vividly alive. But he looked, and saw in the idealized con- 
ception of the artist a stately conqueror on a noble charger, 
but in advance of him, pressing forward, shining golden in 
the sunlight of Heaven, strode the angel of peace proffering 
the olive branch. Then, as if by a flash of lightning, stood 
revealed a glimpse into the heart of the conqueror, and the 



Keconstruction in the South 85 

man's own heart thrilled in touch, as if by an electric shock ; 
the memory of that convention, which Sherman formulated 
with Johnston — repudiated at Washington — rushed into his 
mind like a new revelation. The artist in that second of time 
had changed the man so that, altering not at all his convic- 
tions as to the merits of the past contest, but allowing for a 
different point of view in others, he could sincerely feel for 
his country, 

Thy Past sings ever Freedom's song, 
Thy Future's voice sounds wondrous free ; 
And Freedom is more large than Crime, 
And Error is more small than Time. 

And how did military government "work" considered 
from the view-point of the governed. It was infinitely 
preferable to the negro supremacy that followed. This was 
certainly true of South Carolina. But not for any trivial, 
silly sentiment did the representatives of our race "riot" at 
Kunnimede, or behead Charles, or drive out James, nor for 
such was George Third ejected from America. Nor were our 
forefathers all fools, because they dreaded and would not 
tolerate standing armies in time of peace. Reconstruction 
has left many legacies of evil to the American people, but not 
the least of these is the precedent established for all time of 
despotism unresistingly endured by one side, loudly ap- 
plauded by the other. 



86 Hampton and Reconstruction 

CHAPTER FOURTH 
Reconstruction in South Carolina 

Our hearths are gone out and our hearts are broken, 
And but the ghosts of homes to us remain, 

And ghastly eyes, and hollow sighs give token, 
From friend to friend of an unspoken pain. 

O ! raven days, dark raven days of sorrow, 

Will ever any warm light come again? 
Will ever the lit mountains of Tomorrow 

Begin to gleam athwart the mournful plain? 

— Sidney Lanier. 

Reconstruction in South Carolina was the same in general 
scope as in other Southern States, but the effects here were 
more ruinous at the time, and the injury more permanent, 
than elsew^here. This w^as because, through the large prepon- 
derance in numbers of negroes over the white population, 
black supremacy under the aegis of Federal support became 
at once established, and ran riot at will. "Red-Rock," by 
Mr. Page, besides being a charming story, is no doubt a cor- 
rect picture of Virginia during that period, but it is as far 
from representing conditions then existing in South Carolina, 
as an autumn gloaming would be from a black wintry night. 
The counties from the centre of the State to the seaboard 
suffered most, as in that section was concentrated the great 
mass of the negroes and also because, in those times, was 
there the greatest amount of previously acquired w^ealth, 
w^hich proved a magnet for attracting the keenest and most 
voracious "carpet-baggers." It will require the efforts of 
more than the life-time of two generations born since 1865, 
say fifty years, or more, to make up for the material injury 
then sustained. It is from this cause chiefly that Charleston, 
possessing admittedly a very fine deep-water harbor and a 
healthful climate at all seasons — by far the best port in natu- 
ral advantages on the South Atlantic coast — finds herself 
today handicapped in her interior transportation-lines, as 
well as her coastwise and foreign ones by w ater. It is true 
that it also required a decade for Florida and Louisiana to 
pass back into the government of their own people, but the 



Eeconstruction in South Carolina 87 

plight of those States during that period was not so desperate. 
In Florida at that date there was not so much to steal and 
therefore she did not attract so many flrst-class robbers. Lou- 
isiana had been reorganized as to civil government by Mr. 
Lincoln before the end of the war, without the imposition of 
negro suffrage, and, although this government Avas over- 
thrown by the Reconstruction Acts, yet the organization of 
party previously created survived in a measure the cataclysm, 
and was able to effect much good by lessening the practical 
effect of the evils. Thus all the other States got "head-start" 
of South Carolina in the struggle for bread and in the steeple- 
chase for wealth. 

Under the Reconstruction Acts of March, 1867, the com- 
manding General in South Carolina during October regis- 
tered voters to elect delegates to a convention "to frame a 
Constitution and civil government." All male negroes, who 
had presumably attained twenty-one years of age, and whites 
over twenty-one, not disfranchised, and who took the "iron- 
clad oath," which excluded nearly all, could be registered at 
his discretion by the military officer. This excluded a very 
large proportion of the whites, and all the prominent ones. 
On a fair registration in the State there would probably have 
been a negro majority of about twenty thousand or more, 
even if no whites had been excluded. With a large percentage 
of whites disfranchised, and almost unlimited "repeating" 
on the part of the blacks, any majority desired could be 
obtained for the latter. A Constitutional Convention thus 
organized met in Charleston on January 14, 1868, consist- 
ing of a sprinkling of whites — strangers to the State, almost 
all — and the rest negroes, very few of whom could read or 
write or had the faintest conception of what legislation 
meant. 

Perhaps it will be sufficient to quote the opinion on this 
point of Mr. Daniel H. Chamberlain, who was a member of 
the Convention : 

("Atlantic Monthly," April, 1901.) "The property, the 
education, and intelligence, the experience in self-government 
and public affairs in this State, were, of course, wholly with 
its white population. Numbers alone were with the rest. It 



88 Hampton and Reconstruction 

[the Convention] did not contain one Democrat, or one white 
man, Avho had high standing in the State previously." 

On March 6, 1867, an address was issued from Columbia 
by the "Conservative" Party appealing to Congress and their 
countrymen generally against the imposition upon them of 
the Reconstruction legislation just passed. The language is 
dignified, eloquent, and touching in its calm and earnest 
statement of the case, and the words seem now, in the light of 
results, like inspired prophecy, but the outcome of Recon- 
struction was in fact what any one possessing common sense, 
and knowledge of the negro could not fail to foresee. Later 
on the Conservatives protested to Congress against the Con- 
stitution, about to be presented to the latter by the Conven- 
tion, in these words : 

"The Constitution was the work of Northern adventurers, 
Southern renegades, and ignorant negroes. Not one per cent, 
of the white population of the State approves of it, and not 
two per cent, of the negroes, who voted for its adoption, 
understood what this act of voting implied. — We do not mean 
to threaten resistance by arms, but the people of our State 
will never quietly submit to negro rule. We may pass under 
the yoke you have authorized, but by moral agencies, by polit- 
ical organization, by every peaceful means left us, we will 
keep up this contest until we have regained the political 
control handed down to us by an honored ancestry." 

Adverse criticisms of the conduct of the whites in taking 
virtually no part in the Constitutional Convention — not 
heard at the time — became quite frequent after the pernicious 
effects of the Congressional programme had become too pal- 
pable to be denied. It was alleged that the white population 
could and should have shaped the course of the Convention. 
But they, on their part, assert that it was impossible for 
them to do so, and that, because of its being self -evidently 
impossible, it was not attempted; that the registered negro 
voters were in an enormous majority and under the control 
of the white "carpet-bag" demagogues, and that a fair vote 
was out of the question ; that the influence, which the white 
population might otherwise have, to some extent, exerted 
over the blacks, was practically nullified by the large per- 



Reconstruction in South Carolina 89 

centage of the disfranchised, whose hands were tied and 
whose discredit thus created with the negroes reacted upon 
the hold that others might have in a measure maintained 
upon them. Besides, they declared their conviction that, even 
if it had been practicable for them to organize a possible civil 
government, this would have been unacceptable to the faction 
then ruling at Washington and would have been upset, just 
as the Lincoln-Johnson State had been overturned. They 
believed it to be self-evident that the programme "Thorough" 
was inexorably decreed for them; that, either because of a 
doctrinaire belief that negroes were as competent to rule as 
the white population, and that the majority of all ought to 
rule ; or else that, to perpetuate political factional triumph at 
Washington, to the blacks was to be given free hand to plun- 
der the property of the whites — the only community-assets 
existing — or, if they could. Africanize the State, provided 
that, in return for this, they handed over to their friends at 
Washington the presidential electoral votes, and the congres- 
sional delegation at every general election. Meantime the 
only part left the white population in the picture was to 
supply cash exacted for taxes, to furnish the carcass to fatten 
negro and "carpet-bagger." Believing thus, they determined 
on the course of conduct set forth in this protest to Con- 
gress, which I have already quoted : 

"We do not mean to threaten resistance by arms, but the 
people of our State will never quietly submit to negro rule. 
We may pass under the yoke you have authorized, but by 
moral agencies, by political organization, by every peaceful 
means left us, we will keep up this contest until we have 
regained the poltical control handed down by an honored 
ancestry." 

They knew that at least one element of strength was 
ensured to them by the attempt to force upon them negro 
supremacy ; the only part of civil society then worthy of the 
name would spontaneously close up shoulder to shoulder, 
in a solid phalanx, and remain so, and that it would be 
reinforced by every honest immigrant coming to the State 
from whose eyes the scales of prejudice would soon fall when 
confronted with facts. Very much they counted for a power- 



90 Hampton and Reconstruction 

ful ally upon "the sober second thought of the people" at the 
North, for well did they remember Lincoln's saying, that 
"you can fool all the people some of the time, you can fool 
some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the 
people all the time." 

So, as soon as the empty form of civil government had been 
set up in spite of their earnest protests, they, without having 
compromised themselves by a quasi-sanction of the proceed- 
ings through a nominal participation in them, began to take 
part in politics, as far as disfranchisement would allow. 
Their patient purpose was, not to set up candidates of their 
own, as a rule, but to support one, or other of the factions 
developing from time in the local Radical (i. e.. Straight 
Republican) party, which factions always styled themselves 
"Reformers." They were never successful in important elec- 
tions, were "counted out" again and again, but they kept 
hammering on the wedge of cleavage of the Radical party, a 
policy which bore fruit in 1876, and which exercised some 
mitigating effect throughout the entire miserable period 
preceding. But all the time, in the foresight of the wise, and 
in the blind unswerving faith of the multitude, was kept 
firmly fixed the inexorable resolve that true representative 
government was the goal in view, and that skirmishing 
meanwhile was only for tactical advantages; that represen- 
tative government they would eventually attain to, or else, 
failing this, again a military despotism of white men; but 
that negro supremacy was never, except temporarily and 
under transient duress, to be endured. 

The first Governor elected (virtually by himself) with 
State officers and Legislature, in 1868, under the above 
regime, was R. K. Scott, Brigadier-General of Volunteers 
from Ohio, and agent of the Freedmen's Bureau. He was 
reelected (in the same way) in 1870 for a further term of 
two years, and was succeeded by F. J. Moses, known as the 
"Robber Governor," though why specially honored by this 
distinction above his predecessor it would be hard to say. 
In 1874 Mr. Daniel H. Chamberlain was the regular Republi- 
can ("Radical") candidate for Governor against John T. 
Green, a Republican and so-called "Reformer." The majority 



Reconstruction in South Carolina 91 

reported as counted for Mr. Chamberlain was about twelve 
thousand. The Governor-elect was a native of Massachusetts, 
and in politics and personal feelings an extreme original 
abolitionist of the Garrison school. He had graduated at 
Yale, and then pursued law studies for about one year at 
Harvard. In the spring of 1864 he entered the United States 
Army as lieutenant in a negro cavalry regiment just then 
organized, which served during the last year of the war in 
connection with the Army of the James, guarding depots of 
military stores. He came to South Carolina for the first 
time in January, 1866, when in his thirty-first year, was a 
member of the Constitutional Convention, and attorney- 
general under Scott during the next four years. Owing to 
factional dissensions he was thrown out of office until 1874, 
when he was elected, as above stated, as Radical candidate 
for Governor. 

As this narrative will now have to deal with the period of 
1876, and the events immediately affecting it, when Wade 
Hampton performed services for his State and the country 
in general of inestimable value, it will be necessary to en- 
deavor briefly to give a fair idea of the condition of affair 
then existing, political, industrial, and social. We must try 
to picture the actual results of "Thorough." Heretofore we 
have said something about the seed-time, but now we have 
the harvest before us. In order to effect this purpose in a 
manner that must be necessarily convincing to the reader, 
because unquestionably free from Southern bias, I shall ask 
but two witnesses to take the stand, both Republicans of 
unquestioned party loyalty, and both admirably informed 
upon the subject. The first of these is Mr. James S. Pike, 
formerly United States Minister at The Hague, who spent 
about two months in Columbia, S. C, in the spring of 1873, 
and published during 1874 a book called "The Prostrate 
State." Speaking of the Legislature he says : 

"They were of every hue, from the light octoroon to the 
deep black. Every negro type and physiognomy was here to 
be seen, from the genteel serving-man to the rough-hewn 
customer from the rice, or cotton field. Their dress was as 
varied as their countenances. There was the second-hand 



92 Hampton and IIeconstruction 

black frock-coat of infirm gentility, glossy and threadbare. 
There was the stove-pipe hat of many ironings, and departed 
styles. There was also to be seen a total disregard of the 
proprieties of costume in the coarse and dirty garments of 
the field, the stub-jackets, and slouch hats of soiling labor. 
In some instances rough woolen comforters embraced the 
neck, and hid the absence of linen. Heavy brogans and 
short torn trousers it was impossible to hide. The dusky 
crowd flowed out of the capitol into the littered and barren 
grounds, and issuing through the coarse wooden fence of the 
enclosure melted away into the street beyond. These were 
the legislators of South Carolina. In conspicuous bas-relief 
over the door of exit on the panels of the stately edifice the 
marble visages of George McDufifle and Robert Y. Hayne 
overlooked the scene. 'My God! Look at this!' was the un- 
bidden ejaculation of a low-country planter clad in home- 
spun, as he leaned over the rail inside the house, gazing 
excitedly upon the body in session. — Here, then, is the out- 
come, the ripe perfected fruit of the boasted civilization of 
the South after two hundred years of experience. A white 
community that had gradually risen from small beginnings 
till it grew into wealth, culture and refinement, and became 
accomplished in all the arts of civilization ; that successfully 
asserted its resistance to a foreign tyranny by deeds of con- 
spicuous valor, which achieved liberty and independence 
through the fire and tempest of civil war, and illustrated 
itself in the councils of the nation by orators, and statesmen 
worthy of any age, or nation. Such a community as this 
reduced to this. It lies prostrate in the dust, ruled over by 
this strange conglomerate gathered from the ranks of its 
own servile population. It is the spectacle of a society sud- 
denly turned bottom side up. — In the place of this old aris- 
tocratic society, stands the rude form of the most ignorant 
democracy that mankind ever saw, invested with the func- 
tions of government. It is the dregs of the population 
habilitated in the robes of their intelligent predecessors, and 
asserting over them the rule of ignorance and corruption 
through the inexorable machinery of a majority of numbers. 
It is barbarism overwhelming civilization by physical force. 



Reconstruction in South Carolina 93 

It is the slave rioting in the halls of his master and putting 
that master under his feet. ... As things stand, the 
body is almost literally a Black Parliament, and it is the 
only one on the face of the earth, which is the representative 
of a white constituency, and the professed exponent of an 
advanced type of modern civilization. But the reader will 
find almost any portraiture inadequate to give a vivid idea of 
the body and enable him to comprehend the complete meta- 
morphosis of the South Carolina Legislature, without observ- 
ing its details. The speaker is black, the clerk is black, the 
doorkeepers are black, the little pages are black, the chair- 
man of the ways and means is black, the chaplain is 
coal-black. At some of the desks sit colored men whose types 
it would be hard to find outside of Congo : whose costume, 
visages, attitudes, and expression only befit the forecastle of 
a buccaneer. . . . It is in the unpremeditated language 
of the leading Republican newspaper of Columbia in advo- 
cating compulsory education, that the negroes are termed 
'ignorant, narrow-minded, vicious, worthless animals.' This 
is the spontaneous criticism of an editor who is a child, and 
a champion of black rule, betrayed accidentally into the 
expression of his real sentiments through the urgency of his 
advocacy of compulsory education. . . . The black con- 
stituency of Charleston itself is today represented by men 
who belong in the penitentiary. . . . It is bad enough to 
have the decency, and intelligence, and property of the State 
subjected to the domination of its ignorant black pauper 
multitude, but it becomes unendurable when to that 
ignorance the worst vices are superadded. ... In view- 
ing the condition of South Carolina one naturally is led to 
inquire into the political situation of its chief city, Charles- 
ton. The last remaining privilege of counting and recording 
its own vote has been taken away from it by the last Legis- 
lature, apparently for the reason that a majority of its 
citizens are opposed to the ruling dynasty. That body has 
passed an act giving to the Governor the appointment of 
commissioners and sub-commissioners, who are to take entire 
charge of the city elections, control the ballot-boxes, count the 
votes, and, of course, manipulate the electors in such way as 



94 Hampton and Reconstruction 

they please. With such wholly unscrupulous persons, as they 
have in Charleston to manage elections, this scheme is equiva- 
lent to subverting the right of election altogether. . 
The rule of South Carolina should not be dignified with the 
name of government. It is the installation of a huge system 
of brigandage. The men, who have had it in control, and 
who now have it in control, are the picked villains of the 
community. They are the highwaymen of the State. They 
are professional legislative robbers. They are men who have 
studied and practised the art of legalized theft. They are 
in no sense different from, or better than, the men who fill 
the prisons and penitentiaries of the world. They are in 
fact of precisely that class, only more daring and audacious. 
They pick your pockets by law. They confiscate your estate 
by law. They do none of these things even under the tyrant's 
plea of the public good, or the public necessity. They do all 
simply to enrich themselves personally. The sole base object 
is to gorge the individual with public plunder. . . . The 
present government of South Carolina is not only corrupt 
and oppressive, it is insulting. It denies the exercise of the 
rights of white communities, because they are white. . . . 
As it is morally, so it is intellectually. These same rulers of 
a great State, speaking of them as a whole, neither read, nor 
write. They are as ignorant and irresponsible in the exercise 
of their political functions as would be the Bedouin Arab of 
the desert, or the roving Comanches of the plains, if called 
upon to choose the rulers of New York, or Massachu- 
setts. ..." 

This and much more of similar import writes Mr. Pike, 
who, coming to the State on a visit for health and recreation, 
saw with his own eyes the fruits of Reconstruction through 
negro supremacy. He speaks, too, of the demoralization 
among Federal, as well as State office-holders, as follows: 

"The only authority to which these miscreants pay the least 
deference is the Federal Government, for its power and its 
countenance are requisite to the success of many of their own 
operations. . . . That, for some reason, it has not exer- 
cised its influence to any appreciable extent in the interest 
of good government, is evident. It might do much toward 



Eeconstruction in South Carolina 95 

repressing many corrupt practices, and raising the moral 
tone of the State government. It has not done this. Some 
of the leaders of affairs are men who have merely adopted 
Kepublicanism as a cloak for their villainies. . . ." 

Very much more of interest Mr. Pike relates about the 
nefarious practises of the executive, judicial, and financial 
departments of the State government, but the foregoing is 
enough, and too much, for pleasant reading. As, however, 
he had no opportunity of viewing the constituencies from 
which the representatives he has sketched were derived, it 
may not be superfluous to subjoin a picture of one of these. 
It was painted from life, and is not a caricature, but a fair 
portrait. Very many such, or worse ones, could have been 
seen on the coast islands, or among the large partially de- 
serted plantations and farms, where the negroes formerly, 
as well as at that time, greatly outnumbered — perhaps in the 
proportion of forty or fifty to one — the white population. 
Indeed the locality, where the following scene was enacted, 
was not many miles distant from the constituency which 
sent Mr. Chamberlain to the Constitutional Convention. 

It was on the afternoon and evening of the day preceding 
the "Sabbath" that this grotesque "Cotter's Saturday night" 
could be witnessed. From deserted plantations, and fields 
mostly unfilled, fast returning to the appearance of the 
primeval wilderness; from rude cabins of logs in the pine- 
woods ; from phosphate mines operated nearby ; from far and 
near, came a motley throng of negroes and negresses, frowsy, 
ragged, filthy, and half naked. Laborers from the mines, 
desperate in look, and nature, accompanied by a squalid fol- 
lowing of female lewdness and ribaldry; hands from the 
hoe encased in the dirt of months; deacons and preachers, 
loafers, and idlers of nondescript type ; they all were stream- 
ing to the rendezvous at a large country store kept by one 
white man and a clerk. They came primarily to invest the 
wages just received for the week, or the proceeds of labor, or 
theft, in villainous whiskey, and tobacco, cakes and candy, 
and incidentally to buy with what money was left a little 
bacon, and flour, and many knives and pistols for the men, 
and gaudy bonnets, parasols, or similarly useful articles for 



96 Hampton and Reconstruction 

the women. The evening became cold and rainy, and they 
were all ceaselessly crowding, struggling, and fighting to get 
into the shelter of the store. This was a large, barn-like 
building of rough boards, the entire space within being a huge 
room from one end of which a small compartment was par- 
titioned off where the storekeeper slept and lived, and it was 
from this vantage-ground, the only place from which the 
throng was excluded, that such a scene was for the first time 
viewed by one secure from harm by the possession of a shot- 
gun and plenty of cartridges, for he had been shooting that 
day, and had sought there shelter from the storm. The two 
white storekeepers were the only other representatives of 
their race — and far from worthy ones, too — within a consid- 
erable distance, and for a radius of miles there were very 
few others. The large uninviting enclosure within soon 
became packed to repletion with a dense mass of sweltering, 
reeking, half-naked blacks, jostling and fighting to be served 
first with whiskey. The voices of this race in normal tones 
are soft and attractive, but when raised to a high pitch in 
shrieks and yells, become very discordant and brutal in 
sound, and soon a babel of blasphemy and lewd, drunken 
howls created an uproar indescribable. The place was dimly 
lighted by two foul-smelling oil lamps hung from the rafters 
out of reach, and with the odor from these was mingled that 
of whiskey and clouds of tobacco smoke, together with 
another unmentionable, converting the air into nauseous 
poison. Now and then a fight would occur, when sufficient 
space could be had, in which the women would join frenzied 
with rage and drink. Occasionally a girl, some special 
favorite presumably, would leap high into the air with a 
fearful squeal, with skirts — her only lower garment — held 
high over head, and then, room on the floor being accorded 
by the crowd with a lecherous shout that baffles description, 
she would proceed to execute an unspeakably lustful dance 
and gyrations, which would have put to blush the most 
brazen votaries of the "can-can," and forcibly reminded one 
of the Voodoo rites in Haiti as described by Spencer St. John. 
It was a scene, with all its brutal and savage accompani- 
ments, never to be forgotten, always remembered as a picture 



Reconstruction in South Carolina 97 

of an inferno suitable for a frontispiece to tlie history of 
negro supremacy. And yet it was nothing unusual. 

I shall now submit a few lines of Mr. Chamberlain's testi- 
mony {Atlantic Monthly, April, 1901) : 

"Before the war the average expense of the annual session 
of the Legislature in South Carolina did not exceed twenty 
thousand dollars. For the six years following Reconstruc- 
tion the average annual expense was over three hundred and 
twenty thousand dollars. . . . The cost of public print- 
ing for the first six years [of Reconstruction] was one 
million, one hundred and four thousand dollars. . . . The 
total public debt of South Carolina at the beginning of Recon- 
struction was less than one million dollars. At the end of the 
year 1872, five years later, the direct public debt amounted to 
over seventeen millions five hundred thousand dollars. For 
all this increase the State had not a single public improve- 
ment of any sort to show ; and of this debt over five millions 
nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been formally 
repudiated by the party and the men who had created the 
debt and received and handled its proceeds. . . . Public 
offices were objects of vulgar commonplace bargain and sale. 
Justice in the lower and higher courts was bought and sold ; 
or rather those who sat in the seats nominally of justice made 
traffic of their judicial powers." 

Deplorable and shocking as all this is, the facts proved by 
Mr. Pike and Mr. Chamberlain only represent the less miser- 
able outside surface, and do not touch upon the tragedy to be 
witnessed, in greater or less degree, in every home; gray 
heads sinking into the grave from insufficient and improper 
food; parents half -crazed by inability to furnish adequate 
physical and mental nutriment to their children, and these 
saddened under the cloud of misfortune; manor-houses, 
homesteads, plantations and farms, hitherto representing 
annual wealth and comfort, put under the hammer for taxes, 
and often finding no purchaser at all. Then, too, first ap- 
peared the "monster of monsters," unknown during all the 
times of slavery, unheard of throughout the four years of 
war, when women and children were defenceless — and 
needed no defenders — on large plantations and remote farms. 



98 Hampton and Reconstruction 

And following in his wake, as righteous avenger, when courts 
were silent, strode the lyncher, hitherto a stranger to the 
land. But in sharp contrast with all this, was the roar of 
drunken laughter, and ribald song from Columbia, and from 
almost every cross-roads, as shameless profligates, male and 
female, made merry on the proceeds of stolen taxes and 
bonds. Well might men find natural sleep impossible, when 
the haunting ghost of the past and the dreaded spectre of the 
future fevered their dreams. 

The unspeakably horrible crime of assaults and attempted 
assaults by negroes upon women of the other race and the 
punishment of lynching for such outrages, are, as stated 
above, the direct, legitimate offspring of Reconstruction — 
did not exist before that era, mother of woes unnumbered. 
As, therefore, this ill-begotten monstrosity is necessarily ger- 
mane to the contents of this book, it would seem improper to 
shirk discussing it here in view of the present importance of 
the subject, however loathsome it may be. 

And first of lynching. It goes without saying that it is 
repulsive to all civilized men and a great injury to any com- 
munity, both because of the tendency it has to create general 
disrespect for law, and because of the discredit to the law- 
abiding reputation of the people. It is true that lynching 
for comparatively small crimes, such as horse-stealing, has 
been justified by prominent writers from the northern section 
of our country — for instance, by a noted author, an honored 
graduate of Harvard, and by another of world-wide reputa- 
tion from the same alma mater. But I am not here as its 
advocate as a normal remedy, and if I were, my sentiments 
would not be in accord with those of the community. Like 
war (which is in fact lynching on the most extensive scale, 
where the innocent suffer equally with the guilty), it is some- 
times justifiable as a defensive measure to prevent worse 
evils, but it is always abnormal. But the suppression of 
lynching at the South is an easy matter provided the proper 
remedy is applied — otherwise impossible. It is only neces- 
sary to remove the worst cause, and it will cease to exist. 
That cause is the unspeakable crime above referred to. Erad- 
icate that, and lynching will not be tolerated by any civilized 



Reconstruction in South Carolina ■ 99 

community. But as long as that monster is permitted to 
roam at large, so long will lynching continue and increase, 
and those who condemn it in most unmeasured terms would 
probably find themselves among the first to inflict the punish- 
ment, if the provocation came in their own homes. How, 
then, can the crime, the cause of lynching, be stamped out? 

To assume that the nature of the negro is virtually the 
same as that of the Aryan, and, therefore, that the laws ade- 
quate to govern the one race are necessarily fitted for the 
other, is a radical fallacy. Good order in both races will 
never be preserved, unless this is recognized as a fallacy. In 
some respects the negro's nature is essentially and unalter- 
ably different from that of the Aryan, but in no other respect 
so radically different as in his physical and moral constitu- 
tion in regard to sexual lust. This feeling in the negro is a 
purely brutal instinct, without any admixture whatever of 
sentiment and without any inherent sense of the propriety of 
self-control. With the Aryan we know it is entirely different, 
however great may be the individual variations in refinement. 
The tendency to commit the crime referred to is, therefore, 
perfectly normal in the negro — it is abnormal in the Aryan. 
I doubt if the negro could be convinced that this crime is 
among the 7nal in se; but he can be controlled equally well 
by proving that it is among the mala prohibita, for which the 
death penalty will be dealt out. 

But how can the crime be eradicated, you ask, if inherent 
in the negro nature? The crime is the product of Recon- 
struction — did not exist at all under the slavery regime. It 
has been kept alive by agitating ideas of social equality, and 
by the' harping on the enormity of lynching, which the 
negroes interpret (not unnaturally) as a crime and the cause 
a peccadillo. If this pernicious nonsense could be stopped, 
the crime would practically cease, but it cannot be stopped, 
and, therefore, some other remedy must be found. 

The remedy consists in the framing of proper laws to meet 
the case. These (because of the constitutional amendments) 
will have to be equally applicable to both races, but this 
would be no hardship on a white man, who had un-raced 
himself by the crime. The criminal caught in flagrante 



100 Hampton and Reconstruction 

delicto will always — in spite of written, and in conformity 
with unwritten, law) be summarily shot down by the rela- 
tives of the injured woman; but a white man also will be 
dealt with in the same way for flagrant seduction. But 
where the criminal escapes from the scene of the outrage, he 
should swiftly and surely be hunted down and captured by 
the sheriff and his posse (composed of all available white 
men). He should then be tried at once, if possible, but in 
any case within two days. The rulings of the presiding 
judge should be final — not subject to appeal to a higher court. 
If convicted, the felon ought to be executed on the day on 
which the verdict is rendered. The death penalty should 
apply to assaults, and attempted assaults, and, of course, to 
accessories before the fact. Accessories after the fact should 
invariably be punished by long-term sentences of imprison- 
ment, not subject to pardon by the governor. The evidence 
of the injured woman ought to be taken with all persons not 
concerned excluded from the court-room, and not subject to 
cross-examination ; or, at the discretion of the judge, by affi- 
davit. As some of these provisions would be in conflict with 
the existing course of legal procedure, the latter would have 
to be altered to conform to the necessities of these cases — by 
constitutional amendments, if necessary. The details will 
probably not be found hard to arrange. The essentials are : 
sure and swift capture, trial, and death for the guilty. Delay 
robs the law of its efficacy, and after a few weeks the criminal 
and the rest of his race regard him as a saint destined for 
heaven, which with them is a powerful incentive to future 
crime. It is full time to frame such laws — otherwise the 
innocent will often suffer with the guilty. Remember how it 
was in New England in dealing with the Indian problem — 
the remedy was extermination of the entire race, without 
regard to sex or age, innocence or guilt, and this programme 
was inexorably carried out. 



Hampton Elected Governor 101 



CHAPTER FIFTH 
Hampton Nominated and Elected Governor 

Help thyself and God will belp thee. 

— George Herbert. 

In South Carolina from 1872 to 1874, during the adminis- 
tration of "Robber-Governor" Moses, had been a peace such 
as that of Warsaw ; but not so in Louisiana. There the "Con- 
servatives" had united with a faction from the Radical 
(Regular Republican) party under the banner of "Reform," 
and had prevailed over their opponents. But the Washing- 
ton administration had openly supported the defeated party. 
At length the State House was seized and a file of Federal 
troops sent to break into a session of the Legislature and 
remove at the bayonet's point the representatives of the peo- 
ple. No sooner was this news flashed over the wires to every 
city, town, and hamlet in the North, than a wave of indignant 
popular protest surged from Maine to Texas. The news- 
papers of the North — and among the loudest were some of 
the oldest and strongest Republican journals — burst into a 
chorus of condemnation. But the people needed not their 
teaching ; they had heard the tramp of armed men in a legis- 
lative assemblage, and by their Anglo-Saxon instincts knew 
what that meant. At the November elections in 1874 they 
flocked to the polls and recorded there a scathing verdict. 
It is true that the corruption, which came to light in admin- 
istrative circles, and among friends close to the President — 
the whiskey ring, Indian agent frauds, and others — contrib- 
uted to this adverse public feeling, but the chief momentum 
was derived from the Louisiana affair. When citizens opened 
their morning paper the day after the elections they looked 
aghast at the returns and exclaimed to one another, "Is it pos- 
sible?" A land-slide due chiefly to the above outrages had 
occurred such as that generation had never before witnessed. 
The House of Representatives elected in 1872 had been two- 
thirds in support of the administration, but in a day this had 
been changed and the House elected in 1874 had become 



102 Hampton and Reconstruction 

equally strong in opposition. People everywhere took heart 
at the news. Of course the change in the popular will would 
be reflected much more slowly in the Senate than in the 
House and the Executive would remain unchanged for two 
years more, but, still, it was recognized as the handwriting on 
the wall. It required a mighty shaft from a search-light to 
penetrate into the gloom in South Carolina, but still the 
farseeing ones perceived in the air the germs of the longed for 
revolution of 1876. And the Governor-elect, Mr. Chamber- 
lain, of trained and active intellect, could not fail also to 
see them. The Radical party at the North would have too 
heavy a load, however strong its back, with carrying its 
own home-burdens, and would soon kick against the imposi- 
tion of the infamies of South Carolina. The year 1876 would 
be the Presidential election, a close one certainly — probably 
a life and death struggle. It would not do to furnish much 
fresh ammunition to the enemy ; they had too much already. 
Then there was trouble nearer home. The Governor had been 
elected against "Reform" opposition, as a Radical (Regular 
Republican), with State officers and Legislature of this 
brand, and no more profligate body (himself excepted) had 
come into power during Reconstruction. Nor was this 
even the worst, viewed from a purely political standpoint. 
Negro supremacy had by this time progressed, in its inevi- 
table evolution, to the critical point where the negro leaders 
of pure, or nearly pure blood, were demanding exclusive rule 
for themselves. They had advanced to the position of being 
willing, that the white carpet-baggers should continue to 
cooperate with them for the present, but thought that they 
ought to do so as camp-followers, or petty subalterns, no 
longer as leaders. As the negroes held a majority of twenty 
thousand votes, and as they now had learned from the white 
carpet-baggers the forms and tricks of stealing under the 
guise of law, why should they any longer concede to them the 
lion's share of the spoils? The sentiment was "Africa for 
the Africans," in a great measure kept tacit as yet, but it 
would have broken into a barbaric roar that would have 
eventually driven "Conservatives" and "Carpet-baggers" 
alike from the State, if not ejffectually quenched by such a 



Hampton Elected Governor 103 

movement as that of Hampton's in 1876. The Governor-elect 
acknowledges now with commendable candor all this, though 
he did not see it then ; but what he could not fail at that time 
to perceive was the political danger from this cause to all 
within the Republican party in South Carolina who, like 
himself, had any regard for decency. Moreover he had plenty 
of white enemies, secret ones, within his own camp. There- 
fore, both from national and local causes, there was foul 
weather ahead, breakers perhaps. The ship must be put 
about on a new course. But how do it with such a drunken, 
dissolute, mutinous, ineffective crew? And then, too, the 
prisoners confined below. Will they not break loose and re- 
capture the ship? The captain could not but be very anxious. 
Might he perhaps venture as a last resort, to unmanacle some 
of the prisoners below, trust them in a measure, and by them 
replace the worst of his own crew? It was surely to be con- 
sidered. 

The Governor delivered his inaugural. It was a document 
recommending, nay urging, some reforms of immediate neces- 
sity, and its tone was in the direction of more. By the Legis- 
lature (of which he said he felt no distrust) it was received 
either stolidly, with incredulity, merrily, or angrily, as the 
mood of the hearer might be. With the "Conservatives" it 
made not much impression of any kind, for they had got to 
regarding such sentiments as "chestnuts." The newspapers 
all praised the tone and expressed. intentions of the Governor. 
Some of them went further than this and (read between the 
lines) indicated more than mere Platonic affection. Some- 
thing was in the air. 

It became quite evident at the very commencement of the 
session, that the Governor could accomplish no important 
reforms with that Legislature. The best that he could do was 
to veto its most outrageous Acts, and this he did to the 
extent of over twenty during his term. But this was not 
reform at all. Yet it was not his fault that he could not 
carry out his announced programme, and this the news- 
papers and the public freely admitted. Meantime, as the 
months passed on, he put himself more and more in touch 



104: Hampton and Reconstruction 

with the public (Conservatives) by eloquent speeches and let- 
ters as well on literary and educational, as on political sub- 
jects. The years 1875 and 1876 were the occasion of many 
centennial celebrations, and reunions, and in these functions 
he participated gracefully and tactfully, not endeavoring to 
thrust himself into undue prominence. 

In December, 1875, occurred an event that had the effect 
of eventually deciding the lines of the struggle of 1876. In 
the temporary absence of the Governor for a day from Colum- 
bia, the "Africa for the Africans" faction in the Legislature 
convened a caucus sworn to vote that day for its nominees 
for judgeships of the Circuit Court of the State. The result 
was the election of Whipper, a scandalously corrupt, profli- 
gate, and intellectually incompetent negro "carpet-bagger," 
and Moses, the ex-"robber-governor." The outrage was such 
a flagrant one that it stood out prominently from the mass 
of corruption surrounding it, and a howl of "shame!" went 
up not merely from all decent people in the State, but also 
from the Northern press. The Governor was placed in an 
awkward dilemma. He, of course, was without veto power in 
an election, and this one had been regular in form. But if 
these so-called judges were installed in office it would prove 
him either a nonentity in the role of "reform," or worse. In- 
deed, it would be ridiculous. He could not, according to law, 
refuse to sign their commissions, but to sign them would 
seem to make himself, in the eyes of the public, particeps 
criminis. So he refused to sign their commissions, and, on 
their vaporings about taking possession of their offices by 
force, arranged to prevent them by force, and they had to 
submit. The Conservatives gave him great credit for this 
bold act, and it greatly increased their tendency to gravitate 
toward him. But it made him bitter enemies within his own 
party, some of whom stabbed him in the back at a very critical 
period of the campaign of 1876. His act was certainly the 
strongest possible practical declaration that a negro majority 
ought not necessarily to rule. He was also denounced in 
unmeasured terms for party disloyalty, "for breaking up the 
party," by some Republican journals at the North, among 
others by the National Repuhlican, the administration organ 



Hampton Elected Governor 105 

at Washington, which characterized his conduct as "political 
turpitude/' and him as "an apostate," and Oliver P. Morton 
spoke in the same strain. This was another rock ahead for 
the Governor, for to possess the ear of Washington was 
indispensable to his continued existence as leader of the 
Radical party in the State. Then, too, it weakened him, 
because demonstrating his lack of power at the time with 
his own Legislature, and thus lessened his value to the 
Conservatives, as a possible ally, and diminished the chances 
of that "deal" being accomplished; but it was being pushed 
all the while. 

In January, 1876, the Executive Committee of the Demo- 
cratic party met at Columbia and issued an address to the 
party in the State urging organization, the first attempted 
for several years. In it Chamberlain was, in general terms, 
commended for his course. 

In April of this year the Republican State Convention met 
in Columbia to choose delegates to the Republican National 
Convention to meet at Cincinnati in June to make Presiden- 
tial nominations. Mr. Chamberlain headed this delegation, 
though he had a hard struggle to be elected at all, and nar- 
rowly escaped personal violence. At Cincinnati was confided 
to him that part of the platform dealing with Southern 
affairs, and he wrote the plank which, while dealing in many 
generalities, emphasized the duty of the Executive, and Con- 
gress to enforce the equal poltical and other rights of the 
negro. He vigorously stumped the State during the summer 
for the Hayes electors, and had presumably got again into 
the good graces of the Northern faction. 

Before the spring of 1876 the Reform "boom," with Mr. 
Chamberlain at its head as candidate for Governor, was 
tacitly launched. The newspapers, which before that had 
been credited with more than Platonic affection, now came 
out openly and broke into the cry that indicates that the 
game is afoot. The whole of the programme Avas not made 
public, but was an open secret. The "Conservatives" were to 
make no nomination for Governor; it would be arranged, 
that they should have their man for lieutenant-governor, with 
a fair number of State ofiScers, and enough representatives in 



106 Hampton and Reconstruction 

the Legislature to make a good working majority in connec- 
tion with the "Eeform" Republicans. It was not thought 
that the Radical Republicans would venture to set up any 
ticket in opposition, and, if they tried it, that they would 
easily be lashed into their place, with troops, if advisable, 
for the Governor would have the ear of Washington. He 
could obtain anything asked, it was said, for was he not to 
deliver the coveted prize, the electoral vote for Hayes? Not 
that the electoral vote formed a part of the bargain between 
"Conservatives" and Republican "Reformers"; the Demo- 
crats would nominate Tilden electors, and could vote for 
them, if they liked, and they would do so, but there naturally 
would be no enthusiasm on their part, if this "Reform" move- 
ment took place, and the Hayes electors would have prac- 
tically a "walk over." Besides they controlled the "count- 
ing." 

In December an election would have to take place in the 
Legislature for a United States Senator for a full term of six 
years, and by the agreement the Governor would be elected to 
that position, the Lieutenant-Governor becoming Governor. 
Thus to some extent, the King would enjoy his own again. 
As Senator, the former Governor would have a pleasant posi- 
tion among congenial surroundings in lieu of the opposite 
conditions to w^hich now he was subjected, and could then 
claim from Washington the reward to which, by unwritten 
political law, he would be entitled as payment for the delivery 
of the electoral vote of the State. 

The advantages of this arrangement for the Governor were 
evident. Without any risk at all of failure, he would secure 
his end. As for the "Conservatives" they would be effecting 
a great temporary amelioration of existing conditions for the 
State, with the prospect, it was alleged, from this vantage- 
ground, of totally breaking up the Radical party at the next 
election, thus attaining the goal which they had had un- 
swervingly in view all along, the destruction of negro 
supremacy. By this arrangement there could be no "count- 
ing out," for the Governor had entire control of the election 
machinery, and Washington would be behind him in support ; 
there could be no miscarriage. It all appealed very strongly 



Hampton Elected Governor 107 

to the "Conservative" politicians, for thus they would obtain 
offices. It was attractive to tax-payers for obvious reasons. 
It suited the taste of the timid, for it called for no risk or 
exertion. But the rank and file, who wanted no offices, knew 
little of politics and its methods, and were in the habit of 
transacting their private business in a straightforward, 
manly manner, were very lukewarm, or averse to going into 
it, especially as it seemed to them like virtually deserting 
their friends at the North at a critical juncture, and this was 
repugnant to their sense of honor. In the counties having 
negro majorities the "deal," however, was virtually accepted, 
however reluctantly, as an accomplished fact by the majority 
of persons. But it was not liked at all in the upper counties 
having white majorities. There was, consequently, skirmish- 
ing between those entertaining different views. The sup- 
porters of the Chamberlain "Keform" movement endeavored 
to have the meeting of the "Conservative" (Democratic) 
State Convention for nominations postponed until the Re- 
publicaii Convention met, and had made nominations, but 
were outnumbered. The Convention met at Columbia on 
August 15, the "Straightouts" developed unexpected strength, 
Hampton was nominated for Governor with a complete Con- 
serative State ticket, and Presidential electors thoroughly 
representing the worth, intelligence, and property of the 
community. 

The nomination of Hampton was made on the morning of 
August 16, by General M. C. Butler and seconded by Mr. 
Aldrich. Before more was done. General Hampton took the 
floor for a few minutes. He made some remarks upon the 
situation, reminded the meeting that once before, shortly 
after the war, he had been asked to run for Governor, and had 
refused to do so, because he then thought that he could serve 
the interests of the people best in a private capacity. He con- 
cluded in these characteristic words : 

"There are men in the State in whose eyes I possess dis- 
qualifications of which I cannot dispossess myself, and would 
not if I could. I mean my army record. That record is the 
record of sixty thousand Confederate soldiers of this State, 
and if I were to say that I am ashamed of it, I would be 



108 Hampton and Reconstruction 

saying that which is not true. All the offices in the world 
might perish before I would say so. I beg you, gentlemen, 
to consider these things carefully before you decide upon 
your action. Do not let any partiality, or prejudice lead you 
into hasty action. Consider only what is good for our State, 
and the Democratic party. I shall retire and leave you to 
consider the question in the light of the most good for the 
party. If, upon a full consideration, you think you can select 
some one as earnest and as true as myself — and I am sure 
that there are thousands of them in the State — I pledge my- 
self to give all my time, all my efforts, and all that I am 
worth, to ensure his success, and I shall do so with a lighter 
heart than I would if you select me. 

"In conclusion, I call upon you to remember that I have 
not advised, nor counseled you in this matter. I have simply 
told you, honestly and frankly, my opinion, and come weal 
or woe, I promise that I shall stand by you to the last." 

The General then withdrew, and left the Convention to con- 
sider the question. It went into secret session, excluding 
newspaper reporters. Three simply complimentary nomina- 
tions were made, but in each case the gentleman named at 
once arose and declined to be voted for, on the ground that 
he was for Hampton and no one else. In a short time, by a 
viva voce vote, Hampton was unanimously nominated. W. 
D. Simpson was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, and 
General James Conner, of Charleston, for Attorney-General, 
and for the other positions men of similar standing. 

At this time Hampton was in his fifty-eighth year, as 
vigorous in body and mind as ever, and as impressive and 
attractive in person. 

No sooner was the news known, than the wildest en- 
thusiasm took the place of hesitancy or doubt. If any were 
dissatisfied, they took pains to conceal their feelings. It was 
as if a blast of fresh air had rushed down from Hampton's 
mountain home among the Appalachians, and blown to sea 
the malaria of the swamps and the fetid air of the coast 
towns. The name of Hampton was on every tongue, joy in 
all hearts. The men cheered, the women cheered, the children 
cheered, pet dogs were taught to cheer in merry barks for 



Hampton Elected Governor 109 

Hampton. Absolute confidence in victory had come to tliem, 
and determination to achieve it in spite of everything. By 
common conviction he became at once their leader for life or 
death, such as he had been formerly to the men in Virginia. 
One hundred years before, in her dire extremity, the State 
had acclaimed John Rutledge dictator, and now again by pas- 
sionate plebiscite she set up another. 

Wade Hampton had not sought the position, but when the 
"Straightout" movement was decided upon the leaders 
sought him out and placed before him their solemn convic- 
tion, that he, and he alone, could lead to victory. His opinion 
in favor of a "Straightout" movement had been given during 
the spring. Ambition is never absent from the minds of most 
men, and no doubt, however high and pure the ultimate pur- 
pose, there were many who would like to have headed the 
movement, but, in view of the momentous issues involved, they 
instinctively stood aside, only asking to serve under this 
"born leader of men." In all the political efforts of conse- 
quence taking place within the previous ten years, Hampton 
had been prominent with wise counsel, but not playing for 
vulgar notoriety, not actuated by greed for oflSce, only de- 
sirious of serving the best interests of his people. The masses 
outside of political circles knew him well and loved him, as 
the Bayard of the South, the hero of a brilliant and pic- 
turesque career. But they knew him, too, as a leader of calm, 
cool, unruffled judgment, of iron will, of quick decision, and 
instantaneous execution; but never rash, never foolhardy, 
always counting the cost, or risk of each soldier's life; 
doing nothing from selfish ambition for sensational fame, but 
only for substantial objects well worth the cost. The old 
soldiers around the firesides of the South in every home for 
the last ten years had been fond of relating Hampton's 
exploits, always dwelling on the fact that, however desper- 
ate an undertaking might seem to them to be at the time, it 
invariably turned out, when they had come to understand it, 
prudent and well considered, as well as brilliant in concep- 
tion ; the very reverse of the dare-devil dash of a hot-headed 
man. And they explained how that was one great secret of 
his success, for with his stately figure in front — and there it 



110 Hampton and Reconstruction 

always was — the men said and felt, "It's all right!" They 
would point out — those who had been there — how many a 
time, he easily performed by the inspiration of military 
genius what would have been pronounced by every man in 
both armies absolutely impossible with his available force. 
In these ways, in history by word of mouth at that period 
generally current, the people had learned to know what man- 
ner of man he was, to love him and to trust him implicitly in 
this their life and death struggle. In 1865, under the John- 
son Reconstruction, he was, against his will, voted for as 
Governor, and probably received a majority of the votes. 

In the early stages of Reconstruction a letter was written 
on the subject by General Hampton to President Andrew 
Johnson. This document, never so far published, would be of 
great interest to my readers, and ought to be by publication 
made accessible to the entire country. I have deep regret 
to express for being unable to reproduce it here in full. I 
have fruitlessly made every effort in my power to obtain a 
copy of it. The original is believed to be among the Andrew 
Johnson papers purchased by the United States Government 
now in the Library of Congress at Washington, but a search 
kindly made there by the officials has failed so far to bring it 
to light. The immense mass of these papers is as yet un- 
classified, and it could not be found at present. As it is, 
therefore, impossible to give to the reader the letter in full 
in its exact words, I will not take the responsibility upon 
myself of attempting to give its purport further than to say 
that its wisdom has been proved by results. It is, however, 
asking too much of any one possessing a heart that he should 
refrain from any reference to the appeal made by Hampton 
in behalf of Jefferson Davis. Few men, indeed, would, under 
the circumstances then existing, have ventured to commit 
themselves so unreservedly in writing to the succor of Mr. 
Davis. At first blush, one might be inclined to think other- 
wise, so totally changed are present conditions from those 
then existing, and to believe that he himself would at that 
time have been equally brave and faithful; but let me 
remind you of the feeling then prevailing in regard to Mr. 
Davis, for otherwise you cannot realize the situation. Today 



Hampton Elected Governor 111 

he is regarded by all moderately well-informed persons, what- 
ever their thoughts may have formerly been, as an able, up- 
right, high-minded, humane, refined gentleman, actuated by 
conscientious motives throughout his career, and as loving 
the Union, holding it paramount to everything, save only his 
own and his people's conception of liberty. But such was not 
the opinion entertained for him at the North at the period 
of which we are speaking. There not only by the masses, but 
by the great majority of all, every crime forbidden by the 
decalogue — and more — were ascribed to him; he was calum- 
niated and vilified beyond belief, especially by non-com- 
batants. Any connection with him put a black mark against 
the name thus associated. As to the South, there had always 
been during the war an opposition to his administration, 
which, while ardently devoted to the cause, criticized very 
adversely his management, though not questioning his good 
intentions. After final defeat, the people, broken-hearted and 
impoverished, too frequently found in him a scapegoat for 
disasters, which, as they thought, should. have been military 
successes. Others thought of him not at all, for they were 
absorbed in their own pressing affairs, and with railroad 
communication interrupted, and mails disorganized, news 
reached them but slowly. It was not until it was generally 
realized that Miles had chained Mr. Davis as if he were the 
vilest of convicted felons, had lacerated his aged limbs with 
iron shackles, that a thrill of universal horror, and a pas- 
sionate heart-beat of sympathy and devotion went forth from 
the whole Southern people to the martyr crucified in their 
stead. But this was afterward. Then, too, Hampton, when 
about to urge his views of Keconstruction upon Johnson, 
might well have hesitated to do anything which could 
prejudice his cause, by coupling with it an appeal for justice 
to Mr. Davis, who would be, as "born in the purple," obnox- 
ious to the President's socialistic sentiment and political 
principles. But all these considerations were not counted as 
a feather's weight by Hampton; they were drowned in the 
clank of the chains. As fearlessly and generously had he 
often on the field, regardless of rank, "bestrode" some poor 
unhorsed fellow, saving a life, of which the writer furnishes 



112 Hampton and Eeconstruction 

one of many examples. As a matter of fact, by his attitude 
at this time toward Mr. Davis, and his adherence to him in 
his extremity after the fall of Richmond, Hampton earned 
the enmity of the anti-Lincoln faction, which was manifested 
against him throughout all the "raven days" of Reconstruc- 
tion. 

How far the miscarriage of the projected "Reform" move- 
ment was due to the wrangles of politicians on each side, 
"Conservative" as well as Republican, over the distribution 
of offices, it is now needless to inquire. No doubt it had a 
certain influence. But whatever helped along the inaugura- 
tion of the "Straightout" programme must be hailed as a 
blessing, whatever its origin, for the time had come and with 
it the man. In proof of this we need go no further than the 
words of Mr. Chamberlain himself : 

{Atlantic Monthly, April, 1901.) "If the canvass of 1876 
had resulted in the success of the Republican party, that 
party could not, for want of materials, even Avhen aided 
by the Democratic minority, have given pure, or competent 
administration. The vast preponderance of ignorance and 
incapacity in that party, aside from downright dishonesty, 
made it impossible." 

All the Conservative newspapers of the State, which had 
been supporting the "Reform" boom, turned the required 
somersault as soon as the telegram announcing Hampton's 
nomination reached them, and hastened to tear up editorials 
written for the next day's issue, and substitute others proving 
to their own satisfaction, that they had always favored the 
"Straightout" movement. There were no Radical journals 
in the State — what need when subscribers were unable to 
read? — except one maintained feebly at Columbia, as an 
official organ. The newspapers, particularly The (Charles- 
ton) Neivs and Courtier, vigorously called upon Mr. Cham- 
berlain, if a sincere reformer, to support the Hampton ticket, 
as the only choice would now be between it and the men 
already denounced as thieves and rascals; but he did not 
accept the suggestion, which he might well have done. 

What was the situation, and what the programme of the 
Hampton party? 



Hampton Elected Governor 113 

A word about the programme, first. Let us understand 
that it was a movement practically unanimous on the part 
of the white citizens — who constituted the mental and moral 
worth, as well as the property-representative in the State — to 
put an 'end to unendurable miseries by reestablishing law 
and liberty subverted under color of the Reconstruction Acts 
passed by a body at Washington in which the community 
was without representation. It was in no sense a "one man" 
movement, but a universal uprising of the people to reinstate 
on its throne the fundamental law of the land. To effect this, 
under the extraordinary conditions then existing, it was 
necessary to confide unlimited power to Hampton and his 
associates, just as must be done to its general by an army 
in the field in time of war, but this power was conferred by 
a virtual plebiscite, not grasped by the strong arm of a man. 
Theodore Roosevelt, referring to Cromwell's usurpations, 
says {Oliver Cromioell, page 54) : "In a great crisis it may 
be necessary to overturn Constitutions, and disregard stat- 
utes, just as it may be necessary to establish a vigilance com- 
mittee, or take refuge in lynch law." This implies that the 
"one man" is to judge when such a crisis exists, and then 
"overturn Constitutions and disregard statutes." If this be 
correct doctrine, then it follows necessarily, that all repre- 
sentative government is an absolute fallacy. It has, however, 
always been the usurper's plea in all ages, and would have 
been equally as pertinent to Charles as to Cromwell. A 
vigilance committee or lynch law (whether right or wrong) 
rests on entirely different foundation, the will of the people, 
which is the exact opposite of the "one man power." But 
however all this may be, the movement of 1876 was certainly 
not a "one man" movement, but of the people. Nor was it 
"to overturn Constitutions and disregard statutes,", but to 
reestablish their authority. And now to return to the situa- 
tion. 

Nobody could know, except by approximate estimate, what 
was the real majority in the State possessed by the negroes. 
A census had been prescribed by the Constitution, but it had 
never been taken, for the obvious reason that it might prove 
a slight impediment to fraud at elections. A reasonable 



114 Hampton and Reconstruction 

"guess" was twenty thousand negro majority; in other 
words, ten thousand negro votes obtained by the Conserva- 
tives would obliterate the negro majority. The only whites 
who would vote against Hampton would be "carpet-baggers" 
and their retainers, more than counterbalanced in numbers 
by Republican immigrants, settled in the State during the 
preceding decade and engaged in business, who, confronted 
by facts more important than previous theories and look- 
ing to their own moneyed interests, would vote the Con- 
servative State ticket, whatever they might do about the 
Presidential polls. General Hampton had since 1868 enter- 
tained strongly the belief that the votes of negroes could be 
largely influenced in the direction of decent government by 
legitimate and kindly measures, and in this he proved entirely 
right. The negroes of that date, still under the previous 
humanizing influences of intimate association with white 
masters, had a strong tendency to gravitate back toward 
them, and during the darkest days of Reconstruction would 
come for succor in illness, and distress. On the contrary, in 
spite of the political propaganda to which they were sub- 
jected, they entertained a profoundly aristocratic contempt 
for "carpet-baggers" as "white trash." No time was lost, 
therefore, after his nomination in the establishment of Demo- 
cratic Negro Campaign Clubs throughout the State, and they 
soon numbered 8,000 members. The whites, of course, could 
be counted upon to a man to vote the "Conservative" ticket, 
but an energetic canvass was put under way to keep up 
enthusiasm to the boiling point, and also to obtain every 
negro vote possible — for that counted two, as it was one 
taken from the Radicals, and contributed to the Conserva- 
tives — and, next best, to induce Radical voters to remain 
away from the polls. There were many ways of effecting this 
in addition to mere kindly persuasion, such as discriminating 
in employment. For a Radical negro was presumably a dis- 
honest unreliable fellow, if not an outright thief, and a Dem- 
ocratic negro supposedly the reverse, and selection on these 
lines would seem but natural and admissible to an employer. 
Then, physical force, the show of it, is an effective influence 
with all mankind, which is the reason underlying political 



Hampton Elected Governor 115 

meetings, torch-light processions, and other similar campaign 
methods at the North, and elsewhere. So red-shirted horse- 
men, and ritle clubs peacefully parading became the order of 
the day and sometimes, where more convenient, by night too. 
That these should be armed to the teeth Avas a necessity of 
the times, and had been for years past, but unquestionably 
it would now add to the moral effect of their appearance. 
The impression produced by such demonstrations in neigh- 
borhoods, where the negro population was dense, and the 
white very sparse, would be particularly great, if ener- 
getically conducted, and might sometimes, on timid imagina- 
tions, create vague alarm, but this need not prevent lawful 
and innocent proceedings. As it was the year of a Presi- 
dential election, and as the Tilden electors would be supposed 
to share the success or defeat of the Hampton party, it was 
natural to infer that help would come energetically from the 
Democrats at the North to carry the State, but this did not 
prove so. In no other respects, than the foregoing, would 
the election programme differ from the usual methods prac- 
tised everywhere. 

It has been so repeatedly charged by those disappointed at 
the results of this election, that it was carried by "fraud, 
intimidation and force" (meaning "unlawful violence"), that 
even many well-wishers have been led, by the reiteration of 
the charges, reluctantly to believe them, or to ignore the dis- 
cussion on the ground that the end justified the means. But 
it is full time that this error should be corrected. As to 
fraud, it is true that the prostitution of the principle of free 
suffrage had been made so complete, the ignorance and cor- 
ruption of the negro voters had been so flagrant and shame- 
less for a decade past, and the cheating in counting votes so 
patent — the entire thing such a farce and tragedy com- 
bined — that it could not but bring into contempt the very 
name of voting. It cannot be wondered at that, under such 
circumstances, many, indignant and disgusted, should, under 
the temptation of the issues involved, be carried away by the 
sophistry that the end justifies the means, and imitate, as far 
as able, the practises of their adversaries. But, on the other 
hand, the Radicals were more perfect in all the arts of fraud 



116 Hampton and Reconstruction 

from ten years of incessant practise; they were lashed into 
frantic exertions by hourly telegrams from their friends at 
the North, to obtain the electoral votes at any cost, and they 
knew that their political lives depended on this; they pos- 
sessed, through the Governor, the exclusive right to appoint 
from their own party all the commissioners and managers 
of election, the "Conservatives" for the first time in this 
election being allowed — by arrangement made when the "Re- 
form" deal was expected to be consummated — one, but only 
one, of the three inspectors of election, and all the other 
election machinery was with the Radicals ; it follows, there- 
fore, that the Radicals having a greater experience and skill 
in crooked practises, having at least equal incentives to 
employ them, more than double chances to do so undetected, 
there must have been polled and counted vastly more fraudu- 
lent Radical than "Conservative" votes; consequently, if all 
fraudulent votes could have been eliminated, and a perfectly 
fair count had, it would have been greatly to the advantage of 
the Conservatives and thus greatly increased their majority. 
This seems absolutely to dispose of the charge that the "Con- 
servatives" carried the election by fraud. 

As to "intimidation" by the Hampton party, the only kind 
practised — if it can be called such — was the moral influence 
exerted by the means already described. The cases of actual 
"intimidation" were very few, and were very much more than 
offset by a hundred times more outrages perpetrated on negro 
Democrats by the Radicals. But of systematic "intimida- 
tion," the programme pursued by the Radical leaders was full 
to repletion. By the United States Army they intimidated 
the whites. By their oath-bound associations, such as the 
"loyal league," and many similar ones, they produced a reign 
of terror among the negroes. Their churches were centres 
of the most urgent measures to keep their constituencies 
solid. Every means imaginable were employed that gross 
superstition could furnish. Oaths, of supposedly fearful 
import were administered. Negro Democrats were ostra- 
cized and the women were sworn not to cohabit with them. 
Nor were threats of shooting them down by Federal troops 
unavailed of to keep waverers in the traces. It is probable, 



Hampton Elected Governor 117 

that when the Hampton government was installed, and quiet 
thus restored, the negroes felt the relief even more markedly 
than did the whites. Two wrongs do not make a right in 
morals, but the above facts go to show that the "intimida- 
tion" by the Radicals was far greater than by the whites, and 
that consequently the total absence of it would have been in 
favor of the Conservatives at the election, and that, therefore, 
the election was not carried by "intimidation." 

As to "force," meaning by the term violence due to physi- 
cal force, the charge that it preponderated on the part of 
the whites, and that the elections were won by this means, 
is equally unfounded. Not that it is meant, that the applica- 
tion of open manly physical force to wipe out the negro 
supremacy would not have been perfectly justifiable, if ever 
anywhere in the world a revolution was justifiable, but that, 
in point of fact, it was not used. Every vestige of the State 
government could have been destroyed at any time, in a 
moment, and bloodlessly, too, so utterly weak and rotten was 
it. As Mr. Chamberlain wrote at the time to Washington, 
"My only reliance for effective physical force must be upon 
United States troops." But it was perfectly understood by 
the "Conservatives" that physical violence on their part, or 
anything that could be successfully represented as such, was 
just what the Radical party ardently desired, and then they 
would flood the State with troops and lettres de cachet, and 
have the election all their own way, paying the price for the 
aid rendered them in the handing over of the electoral vote. 
They knew, that the hands of the whites were tied, both by 
sentiment and policy, and they would not fight the United 
States troops. So this was the Radicals' trump card, and it 
would have been folly to furnish them the lead. Without 
such a lead from the Conservatives, they could not so well 
play the strongest card of this their trump suit, because the 
North presumably would condemn it, and it might cause a 
landslide at the coming elections, like that of 1874, produced 
by the use of similar means in Louisiana. In fact, so skil- 
fully did Hampton play his side of the game, so absolutely 
did he prevent his followers — though subjected to provoca- 
tions which it was almost impossible to endure unresented — 



118 Hampton and Keconstruction 

from giving the Radicals a fair pretext for using troops as 
unblushingly as they desired, that they never were able to 
risk doing so to the extent they intended, during the entire 
campaign, imtil the day after the election, too late to have 
an effect on Northern votes, it is true, but also, thanks to 
the skill of Hampton, and the implicit obedience of his 
people, too late to carry the election. The manner in which 
Hampton held locked up in his hand the burning passions 
of his people was the most magnificent of the manifold 
manifestations of his power. It will be seen from this, that, 
as a matter of fact, Hampton did not use force ("violence") 
in carrying the election, but that the Radicals did use force 
to the greatest extent practicable. 

Much has been said disparagingly of the State being but an 
armed camp at that time, as far as the "Conservatives" were 
concerned. So it was an armed camp, and more, and with 
good reason. For years past, since the first term of Scott, a 
negro militia had been organized, at least twenty thousand 
strong. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent (or 
stolen) in equipping them, and besides many stands of arms 
were borrowed from Washington for this purpose. They 
were never of the slightest value for fighting, but could prowl 
about armed, murder, burn, and worse. No white militia 
were allowed to be organized and statutes were passed im- 
posing severe penalties on the military drilling of men not so 
organized. The police in the cities and towns, and the 
constables in the villages were Radicals. So the whites were 
not only without any official protection, but, far worse, every 
official was their armed, active enemy. Moreover, encouraged 
by the teaching that "it made them manly" to have guns, 
nearly every negro was provided with some kind of firearm. 
So it thus became the evident, urgent duty of the whites to 
arm in order to protect their own firesides, and those of their 
neighbors, and they did arm accordingly. Their right to 
possess arms was beyond dispute, for besides the natural 
right, it was one guaranteed to every citizen by the Consti- 
tution. The danger became more and more pronounced, and 
the personal arming got to be more general and heavier by 
the autumn of 1876. As the old New Englanders were in the 



Hampton Elected Governor . 119 

habit of going to church armed to the teeth before they had 
settled, by extermination, their Indian "racial question," so 
it was now in South Carolina from a similar cause. During 
these times, in the evenings at the Charleston Club, might be 
seen on a table near the entrance piles of revolvers left there 
by members on arriving, glad for the moment to be relieved of 
the unaccustomed weight of one, often two, and sometimes 
three, pistols with their cartridges, they never having before, 
except in war, carried arms. But there was good reason for it 
now. On the evening of November 8, the evening after the 
election, an aged, white-haired clergyman, as venerable in 
character as in years — though not a member — called at the 
Charleston Club to borrow some cartridges for an old rusty, 
harmless pistol, which he had managed somehow to procure. 
There had been white blood shed in the town that day. Four 
men going to their places of business were fired on from the 
neighborhood of the courthouse. Three were wounded, two 
of them being a father and son, the latter mortally. In 
another part of the town the chief editor of the newspaper, 
which had been so ardent in the Reform "boom," was 
wounded while riding in the street. Citizens reading the 
returns on the bulletin boards in the principal business 
street had been attacked, and many other like demonstrations 
had been made. During one of these, three negro policemen 
in full uniform were seen by the writer crouching behind one 
of the pillars on the street in front of the police headquarters 
pumping bullets from Winchester rifles. No doubt these 
occurrences were not accidental, but parts of a systematic 
plan to goad the whites into "violence," and then flood the 
place with troops, now that it was too late to damage their 
chances for votes in the election at the North, but not too 
late presumably to throw out correct and substitute false 
returns. The aged clergyman referred to, had thought it his 
duty at such a time to stand shoulder to shoulder with the 
respectable people of the town, and hence his call at the club 
to procure cartridges for his ancient weapon. One of the 
members handed him some, but he hesitated to take so many 
lest he be unduly depleting the ammunition of the giver, but 
the latter's laughing reply was, "A charge to keep I have," as 



120 Hampton and Eeconstruction 

a pocketful was exhibited. This member, a lawyer, amiable 
and lovable, a charming companion, William Clancy, had 
been about two hours before, on the way to his office to 
complete the work of the day, when he was set upon by a 
mob of fully two dozen negroes equipped with clubs and 
firearms, who proposed to demonstrate their fitness for the 
elective franchise by promptly putting our friend to death. 
But he, strange to say, objected to this very reasonable 
demonstration, and treated each of the two foremost to a 
bullet from his pistol, and the rest beat a masterly retreat, 
all this occurring within less than one hundred yards of 
police headquarters, where no notice was taken of the fusil- 
lade, until the mob had fled. In the various negro riots of 
this day one white man was known to have been killed and 
fourteen wounded, but there were no doubt other casualties 
not reported. The negroes suffered very little damage be- 
cause of the forbearance enjoined by Hampton upon the 
whites. 

But it became necessary not only to be personally armed, 
but also to be organized. The negroes were marshaled in 
militia regiments twenty thousand strong, and under oath- 
bound societies, and greatly outnumbered the white popu- 
lation, especially in the lower part of the State. It was obvi- 
ous, that the latter must make the most of their force in 
order to counterbalance mere numbers. Two or three men 
cooperating are much more effective than the same individ- 
uals acting separately and independently, and the advan- 
tage of organization is increased in vastly greater propor- 
tion when you deal with large numbers. Thus not only 
would the safety of hearths and homes be promoted, but it 
would greatly lessen the danger of bloodshed for both races. 
Thirty or forty good men well organized in a rural com- 
munity would be the equivalent in real force of almost an 
unlimited number of blacks and would be recognized as such 
by the latter and go far toward morally policing tranquility. 
Besides, being thoroughly under control, there would be no 
danger of their becoming aggressors. But the "Conserva- 
tives" could not organize as militia, for no white militia 
would be received by the State authorities, and acts were 



Hampton Elected Governor " 121 

passed making it highly penal to drill white men not in the 
militia. An expedient by which general organization could 
be effected had therefore to be found. It was effected by the 
formation of social societies, as rifle, sabre, and artillery 
clubs, presided over by presidents, with secretaries, marshals, 
and other civil officers. There was not necessarily any 
ulterior object lurking under these social associations. If 
the peace of the State were preserved by the official author- 
ities, whose duty it was to protect life and property, the 
essential objects for which all governments exist, there 
would never be any actions of the clubmakers outside of the 
purposes indicated by their social societies. They had in no 
case in contemplation any unlawful proceedings whatever. 
If the occasion unhappily arose, caused by the impotence, or 
intention of the Radical authorities, by which negro riots 
were precipitated, then, although this was not within the 
purposes expressed by the clubs, they would naturally take 
part to suppress murders, and worse. Meantime, it would 
be advisable, in fact necessary, to have orderly arrangements 
by which members would fall-in, walk in line, and observe 
other rules requisite for smoothly carrying out the ostensible, 
and lawful objects of the associations, and these would 
unavoidably approximate to military discipline, but would 
in fact not be that at all. In all these respects, without excep- 
tion, a rifle club would be equally as lawful as a baseball 
club, it being as much the right of a citizen to own and law- 
fully use a rifle as a baseball bat. Such clubs would rest on 
precisely the same footing as baseball clubs, and no ulterior 
object could be inferred, much less proved, and none of an 
unlawful kind existed. If the members of a baseball club on 
their way to play a game, or when at their rooms, should 
become cognizant of there being a murderous attack on their 
homes in progress, which the regular official authorities were 
unwilling or unable to disperse, the members, grasping their 
bats as weapons, would certainly fly to the rescue of their 
families and friends; and the member of a rifle club, under 
the same circumstances would do exactly the same thing, 
with his rifle as weapon, and all his fellow-members would 
act in the same way, and this would be perfectly lawful. It 



122 Hampton and Reconstruction 

would not do for the Executive of the State or the Washing- 
ton Executive to say that it was to be inferred that "vio- 
lence" was intended by the mere formation of a social rifle 
club. The intention must be proved, either by an overt act of 
unlawful "violence," or else a conspiracy to commit such 
"violence" must be proved, both of which Avere impossible in 
these cases, as no acts of "unlawful violence" were either com- 
mitted or contemplated. But when these clubs were during 
the campaign "proclaimed" from Columbia and Washington, 
it was not done on the strength of overt acts or conspiracy 
proved, but on what we must term "telepathic violence" (a 
new title and a new offense), that is to say, "the intention to 
commit unlawful violence" discovered only by the "mind- 
reading" of the State Executive, a "mind-reading," which, 
too, was at fault, as no such intention existed. So when the 
proclamations referred to were in due time put forth, they 
were disregarded as being of no legal force, for only on the 
application of the Legislature when in session, or of the State 
Executive, when such a body is not sitting and cannot be 
convened, based on the fact of there existing "domestic vio- 
lence" (not "telepathic violence"), which the State authori- 
ties find themselves, after trying to do so, unable to suppress, 
is it competent for the Federal Executive to interfere and 
furnish troops. This could not be done lawfully in the case 
alluded to, on the theory of "telepathic violence," for that 
invented offence was unknown to the law. 

Over this "armed camp," with these clubs extending from 
the mountains to the sea, Hampton's word was law, and that 
word was, "Peace." 

The nomination of Hampton abruptly terminated all of 
Mr. Chamberlain's hopes of the "Reform boom." He was 
thus placed in the position of being compelled either to relin- 
quish politics altogether, as an occupation, or else to throw 
in his lot with the worst element of his party containing the 
very individuals whom he had personally denounced in most 
scathing terms. He was nominated for Governor by tliis 
party on September 15. But he was obliged to surrender, 
in order to obtain the nomination, and the ticket — himself 
excepted — was the worst, most profligate, and desperate that 



Hampton Elected Governor . 123 

had as yet been submitted to voters. If it had been elected, 
it could not, as he himself has since then admitted in words 
quoted on a former page, have produced an amelioration of 
conditions. Not only that, but it would have proved the 
fruition of the "Africa for the Africans" movement ; violence 
under the forms of law would have either driven the white 
population from the State, or resulted in armed revolution, 
or permanent martial law under white troops. 

J. J. Patterson, "Carpet-bag" United States Senator from 
South Carolina, "Honest John," came on to attend the Con- 
vention, as "boss." He was the most powerful man in his 
party, and of the worst faction. There had been a quarrel 
between him and Mr. Chamberlain, but they had made peace 
on the night before the Convention met, otherwise Mr. Cham- 
berlain could not have obtained the nomination. "Honest 
John" was a rough-looking man, far from neat in appearance, 
with sandy complexion and hair, and a restless, furtive eye. 
He wore a long black coat and a watch chain big enough to 
tie a mastiff. But his legs were wonderful — long, thin, and 
very crooked ; and, when speaking to an audience, he would 
become nervous, or excited, these legs would double up under 
him, like those of a contortionist, so that you could not 
keep your eyes off them, fearing a catastrophe. He told 
the Convention, that he and "Daniel" (meaning Chamber- 
lain), "had fell out," but that now "me and Daniel are 
friends." He was the person who had made the statement 
that "there were still five more years' good stealing in South 
Carolina." In his speech he alluded to his well-earned repu- 
tation as a thief, but very much in the way that sweet six- 
teen might disclaim the soft impeachment of being a flirt. 
He said : 

"President Grant has his eye on South Carolina and in- 
tends to take care of her, and I will warrant that Grant will 
bring the strong arm of the United States Government to 
support and keep the Republican party in power. By the 
eternal Gods ! the Democrats shan't have any say at all in the 
government," and much more to the same effect, and worse. 

And this was a Senator of the United States in the year of 
our Lord 1876 ! 



124 Hampton and Keconstruction 

There is some soul of goodness In things evil 
Would man observlngly distill it out. 

Not in Patterson, distill ye never so wisely. 

So Mr. Chamberlain was nominated for Governor, Gleaves, 
his present mate as Lieutenant-Governor, a mulatto, colored 
like a meerschaum pipe, was renominated. Elliott, a negro, 
the planner of the Whipper-Moses outrage, who had been 
denounced by Chamberlain, was nominated for Attorney- 
General ; Ha^^ne, a mulatto, for Secretary of State ; and Car- 
dozo, a mulatto, for State Treasurer, The rest of the nom- 
inations were similar, consisting of persons notoriously dis- 
honest and profligate, and the ticket for the Legislature was 
selected in the same way. 

Although "Honest John's" words were vulgar, and his ap- 
pearance and manners repulsive, yet the correctness of the 
ideas which he expressed about the intentions of the Wash- 
ington authorities can hardly be questioned. On August 17, 
Cameron, Secretary of War, directed the general command- 
ing the army "to hold all the available force under command, 
not engaged in subduing the savages, for the enforce- 
ment of certain, condign, and effectual punishment upon 
all persons who shall attempt by force, fraud, terror, intim- 
idation, or otherwise to prevent the free exercise of the right 
of suffrage." Taft, United States Attorney-General, said, 
"The marshals have absolute power over the troops." As 
Radicals were to apply this direction untrammeled to what- 
soever they pleased to style "intimidation," there could be 
no doubt that the intention was simply to make a "solid 
South" for Hayes and Wheeler and their following. There 
were at that time in the Reconstruction States thus to be 
"solidified" 138 companies of troops and batteries of artillery, 
amounting to about 14,000 men, and many thousand more 
were sent before November, and these latter were despatched 
with such haste, that they came with full catridge-boxes 
ready for action, and were astonished when they found pro- 
found peace, instead of the expected war. 

It is hardly necessary to allude to the advantages possessed 
by the Radicals in the coming campaign, for they are self- 
evident. Having in their own hands, to be used with entire 



Hampton Elected Governor 125 

unscrupulousness, all the machinery of nominal local gov- 
ernment and the strenuous support and encouragement of 
their party at the North, who were playing for the electoral 
vote, it would have seemed to those not behind the scenes 
useless for the "Conservatives" to attempt to struggle against 
such apparently overwhelming forces. But to those who 
could perceive beneath the surface the thorough rottenness 
and weakness underlying the acting State government, and 
who were alive to the desperate determination animating the 
white population, the situation looked very different. 

It is necessary to recur to an important matter antedating 
the nomination of Hampton on August 15. 

On July 22, Mr. Chamberlain wrote to President Grant 
a letter to which he received a reply signed personally dated 
July 26. Mr. Chamberlain's letter was a very lengthy one, 
conceived and expressed with much tact and ability, a mas- 
terly effort indeed, regarded from a purely political stand- 
point. Taking as his text the Hamburg riots, which had 
occurred early in July, he wove a plausible argument to the 
effect that there was widespread violence lurking in the 
depths of society, though not perceptible on the surface, sub- 
marine torpedoes set for the purpose of blowing up the sacred 
right of suffrage, only to be detected by "mind-reading." He 
argued that the Hamburg riots were an instance of this kind, 
which would be followed by innumerable others, unless force 
were available to crush them, and that the only force of the 
kind adequate, or indeed at all available, was that of United 
States troops. He represented the Hamburg riots to have 
been a political disturbance in its origin. He forwarded 
enclosed in his letter some ex-parte evidence taken by corrupt 
Radical officials, which, if true, would have proved that five 
negroes were killed or wounded after they had been cap- 
tured in the fight. Those accused of this crime vigorously 
demanded trial, but such was never accorded them, which 
does not speak well for the truth of the alleged evidence. 
But whatever the case may or may not have been in this 
regard, there is no evidence whatever, even from this ex-parte 
testimony, that politics entered, in the slightest degree, into 
the riot. It was a fight caused purely by personal friction, 



126 Hampton and Reconstruction 

having no connection at all with politics. Hamburg was 
then, as now, a little place in South Carolina opposite 
Augusta on the Savannah River. The town officials were 
negroes, and there had been for years past mutual vexations 
and exasperations, which necessarily result from such con- 
ditions, more pronounced and irritating there because just 
across the river in Augusta order and tranquility prevailed. 
Finally some negroes, acting under false color of militia 
organization not authorized by law, and armed with rifles 
belonging to the State illegally obtained, came in collision 
with two respectable white men, Avho employed a lawj^er and 
sought legal redress. The negroes summoned to attend the 
court refused to comply, and took position armed, within a 
building. White men, expostulating with them and trying 
to induce them to give up their arms and peaceably disperse, 
were fired upon and one of the number instantly killed. The 
sequel could be predicted, in spite of the odds and the strength 
of the position held by the negroes. But there was nothing 
political in it at all, from first to last. Under the same con- 
ditions, and in the absence of the restraining influence of law, 
a similar collision between white men and Democrats would 
have been probable. But Mr. Chamberlain represents to Gen- 
eral Grant that, because all of the rioters on one side were 
white and Democrats, and all on the other negroes and Repub- 
licans, it follows that it was a political riot caused by a wide- 
spread determination to deprive the negro of the right to vote. 
This logic would be on the same plane as to argue that, because 
now all the burglars, murderers and rapists are negroes 
and Republicans, and their victims whites and Democrats, 
therefore burglary, murder and rape are political crimes con- 
nected with the negro franchise. The evidence adduced in the 
letter of the existence of widespread "domestic violence" was 
not founded at all on overt acts, or proved conspiracy, but 
entirely as "telepathic violence." After his presentation of 
the case Mr. Chamberlain puts the question squarely whether, 
in case of "domestic violence" beyond his control, he can 
count definitely on the Federal troops. The reply is also a 
somewhat long one, and, after commenting at length and very 



Hampton Elected Governor 127 

severely on the existing status of the Democratic State Gov- 
ernments in Louisiana and Mississij^pi, explicitly promises 
troops, when the "domestic violence" referred to by Mr. 
Chamberlain makes their presence, in the opinion of the 
latter, advisable. It does not appear how far the President 
was made a convert to the "telepathic violence" theory, but, 
as it was left to the Governor to decide about the occasion for 
troops, it would be immaterial whether the President was or 
was not a convert, as the former would all the same act upon 
the theory, when he desired, and could count upon being at 
once supported without inquiry into facts. 

In this connection one remembers that the Convention of 
the Republican Party of South Carolina in April of this year 
extolled in the strongest of language the Southern policy 
of President Grant's administration, and unanimously advo- 
cated a third term for him, and that Grant believed himself 
entitled to this reward from his party in return for the power 
his name and military prestige lent to the upholding of the 
anti-Lincoln programme of Reconstruction. Nor were the 
desire and expectation of Grant of a third term ended by the 
nomination and counting in of Hayes, for he could become his 
successor, and the nominating conventions and electoral 
votes of the three "Reconstructed States," which still might 
be held for the party — South Carolina, Louisiana, and 
Florida — would be very important to the fruition of his 
hopes. This no doubt will go far to explain the attitude 
taken by him in the letter to Mr. Chamberlain and his sub- 
sequent course throughout the Hampton campaign. 

The great, and apparently overpowering advantage, that 
Mr. Chamberlain gained by this arrangement with the Exec- 
utive, which was susceptible of proof whenever he chose 
to show the letter, is evident. His chances of carrying 
through the "Reform" agreement were not yet gone, although 
by this time greatly lessened from the prospect at an earlier 
date. That arrangement was manifestly to his interest, as 
he would thus be assured of securing the electoral vote, to say 
nothing of the State election, and for the former he would be 
entitled, by political ethics, to a large reward for himself and 
to provision for his party friends. The letter would, in case 



128 Hampton and Reconstruction 

of the consummation of the "Reform" agreement, enable him 
by the weight which it would give him with his fellow Rad- 
icals to lash into line any rebelious spirits or waverers and, 
if occasion required, he could use troops against the "Africa 
for Africans" dissentients. On the other hand, if the 
"Reform" deal were to fall through, he could, by using the 
letter and all that it implied, crush out any opposition that 
might develop to his nomination as the regular Radical candi- 
date, and could afterward in the campaign make use of troops 
when he wished against the white population and its follow- 
ing of Democratic negroes, and thus, as he conceived, make 
sure of the election both Federal and State. That the use 
of troops would not prove an omnipotent force, he could not 
then foresee. As already pointed out, his hands were, to a 
certain extent, tied, in that he could not make too prominent 
a use of troops before the election, for fear of creating at the 
North a feeling like that aroused by the similar Louisiana 
incidents referred to. After the November elections, when 
only the counting had to be done, the Louisiana proceeding 
was in fact duplicated, as we shall see later in this narrative. 
If, however, before the election was held, it could be arranged 
to goad the Conservatives into resistance and manage to 
bring them into conflict with the Federal troops or authori- 
ties, to such an extent as to blind the North to the real facts 
and merits of the case, then free hand could be had with the 
use of troops to control the election. But in this he was 
balked by the wisdom of Hampton and the patience and for- 
bearance which he imposed upon his followers. 

In accordance with the agreement made with the Execu- 
tive, orders were issued to make such a disposition of troops 
as would render them most effectively available when needed 
by the Governor. 

On September 6, about ten days before Mr. Chamberlain's 
nomination as Radical candidate for reelection, occurred the 
first riot of consequence in the Conservative campaign. A 
"Conservative" political meeting was held in Charleston to 
consolidate and give standing to the negro Democratic clubs, 
many of which were present. This incensed the Radicals 
and they, according to their own admission, broke up the 



Hampton Elected Governor 129 

meeting, killing two Democrats, one of Avhom was a negro. 
No political capital was sought to be made of that occurrence 
against the ''Conservatives/' as the facts were too patent and 
the affair took place at a center where the searchlights were 
strong, and, besides, Mr. Chamberlain had not then been 
nominated. It was not, however, considered "domestic vio- 
lence" on the part of the negroes, and no punishment was 
attempted against them ; there was no call for "troops," nor 
did Marshal Wallace attempt to make a single arrest. 

But before this, from August 23 to September 16, riots 
had been daily taking place on plantations on or near the 
Combahee Elver, where much rice is cultivated. Several 
negroes were killed or wounded, and many severely beaten 
and maimed by other negro strikers, the processes of law 
had been successfully resisted, and anarch}^ prevailed. In 
these riots only negroes were concerned. But the Governor 
did nothing, made no attempt to quiet the disturbance; nor 
did he "call for troops" nor wire Washington that "domestic 
violence" existed. The tumult was eventually quieted by the 
influence of the white population without the use of force. 

On September 16 what are known as the Ellenton Riots 
in Aiken County began and lasted several days. They origin- 
ated in an assault attempted by two negroes on a very 
respectable white woman, the wife of a farmer absent in his 
fields. At any time and anywhere. North or South, this 
crime will necessarily arouse the strongest passions of neigh- 
bors, and where corrupt courts, negro juries, and purchasable 
pardons made the prospect of punishment by legal means 
altogether impossible, it would have been but natural for the 
white population to have caught and lynched the offenders. 
It should be well understood, too, by those really wishing 
to comprehend this question of the "nameless crime" and 
lynching, both of which were created at the South by the 
Reconstruction Acts, that, where such a crime was committed, 
the great bulk of the negroes, not being alive to its full enor- 
mity, would become accessories after the fact, endeavoring 
to harbor and conceal, and assist the criminal in escaping — 
which is still at present too often the case with them — and 
that therefore sometimes they would unavoidably share the 



130 Hampton and Reconstruction 

fate intended for accessories before the fact. In this instance, 
however, they made no attempt to, and had no intention of, 
lynching the criminals, for they were under Hampton's strict 
injunctions to act only within the law. A small party of 
men — about twelve in number — quickly went in pursuit of 
the offenders and apprehended one, whom they took for 
identification, and, when this had been effected, were pro- 
ceeding to take him to jail, when he broke away and would 
have escaped, if he had not been shot at and wounded. The 
next day it was ascertained that the negroes throughout the 
country were assembling in large numbers, armed and 
threatening vengeance. The neighborhood was but sparsely 
settled by whites, and the danger to their homes very great, 
and they consequently got together for mutual protection. 
On the following day it was reported that the negro con- 
cerned in the attempted assault had sought protection with 
a large number of armed negroes concentrated at a strong 
position. A regular constable, duly provided with a warrant 
from a Republican magistrate and accompanied by a posse, 
proceeded to serve the warrant and arrest the criminal. Be- 
fore reaching the place where the armed negroes were sup- 
posed to be, the posse, without warning, was fired upon from 
ambush, and the fire was returned, but, so far as known, with- 
out effect on either side. After a time a conference between 
the posse and the negroes was had, the constable exhibiting 
the warrant, but by that time the criminal had had time to 
betake himself elsewhere. It was then mutually agreed that 
both parties would disperse to their homes, which was done 
by the whites, but the negroes did not carry out their part of 
the agreement, but remained where they were and fired upon 
two white men happening to travel the road about two hours 
afterward, while another party a few miles off ambushed 
some whites, wounding five, and waylaid two other farmers, 
one of whom they succeeded in killing. They then tore up the 
track of what was at that time called the Port Royal rail- 
road, wrecked a train, cut the telegraph wires, and burned a 
mill and ginhouse in the neighborhood. After some further 
collisions, in which the whites, owing to their smaller num- 
bers, suffered as many, or more casualties than the negroes, 



Hampton Elected Governoe 131 

the latter moved down to a swamp near Ellenton, and the 
whites were marching upon them in orderly formation, when 
they met a company of United States regulars, which had 
been dispatched to the scene. A conference was held with the 
officer in command and, on his promise that he would cause 
the negroes to disperse, the whites returned to their homes, 
leaving the settlement of the riot to the troops. Thus ended 
the riot as far as bloodshed was concerned. 

The above are the facts of the case and are, in brief, the 
sworn statement of men living in the neighborhood, of the 
highest position in the country, of life-long unblemished 
character, having knowledge of the transaction, and not con- 
cerned or suspected of having been concerned in it. Such 
evidence would be accepted today as conclusive by any jury 
in the land. This sworn statement was tendered by the 
signers to the Commissioner collecting the affidavits from 
negroes, but he avoided accepting it or making it a part of 
the record. It was, however, published in the newspapers, 
as information to the public, and also forwarded by Hampton 
to Washington. The testimony on the other side was taken 
by Radical partizan Commissioners, and the affidavits were 
those of irresponsible negroes, who had taken part in the 
riot, who had no appreciation of the meaning of an oath, 
whose passions were inflamed to the highest pitch, and who 
received pay for making the affidavits. No court or jury in 
the world, at the present day, would attach any credibility 
whatever to testimony of such witnesses so taken. 

It is necessary to point out here that these Ellenton riots 
bear the marks of preparation, and not of accident. The 
provocation given the white population was of the character 
known to be sure to stir up the people, and the instan- 
taneous assembling of hundreds of armed negroes, concen- 
trated and ready for action, proved previous arrangement. 
So does the prompt taking of affidavits and the political 
capital obtained from them, and the call for troops. 

In the latter part of September a public notice was posted 
at Belton by negroes, or "carpet-baggers," "warning colored 
Democrats," some of whom were named, "not to join any 
more Democratic processions," threatening to flog them and 



132 Hampton and Reconstruction 

drive them from the county, and giving them a limited time 
to leave. There were other similar notices. No attempt was 
made by the Governor, or United States Marshal to inflict 
"condign punishment" nor to disperse these "intimidators," 
nor were "troops" hurried to the neighborhood? Why? 

Early in October the Governor, basing his action, as he 
alleged, on the Ellenton Riots, wrote to the Federal Execu- 
tive claiming the fulfilment of his promise to furnish him 
troops against "domestic violence." Owing to the absence of 
the President from Washington on a holiday, the call was not 
acted upon until October 17, when an Executive proclama- 
tion was issued notifying the rifle clubs and others to disband. 
On the same day the Secretary of War was directed to order 
"all the available force in the Military Division of the 
Atlantic to report to General Ruger commanding at Colum- 
bia, S. C, and to instruct that officer to station his troops in 
such localities that they may be most speedily and effectually 
used in case of resistance to the authority of the United 
States — supplemented, if necessary, by the militia of the 
various States." Meantime, on October 7, the Governor 
had similarly "proclaimed" the rifle clubs and all other 
persons and organizations supposed to be armed. He also 
issued an address to the people of the United States giving 
his version of the Ellenton Riots and the state of public 
affairs based on alleged information which had been obtained 
from the sources that we have mentioned. He was not even 
in the State at the time the alleged occurrences took place. 
He stated that from thirty to one hundred negroes had been 
killed and as far as known not one white man, whereas the 
facts are that the casualties were, among the whites ten, and 
the negroes eighteen, one of the latter being the original 
assailant of the woman, who after arrest tried to run away 
from the posse. At the same time Corbin, who was United 
States District Attorney, a carpet-bagger of many years 
standing, and one of the Governor's stanchest supporters, 
went to Aiken County to assist the United States Commis- 
sioner in obtaining evidence, such as has been already 
described, against the white Ellenton rioters, with a view to 
prosecuting them in a United States Court for conspiracy to 



Hampton Elected Governor . 133 

deprive the negroes of their votes. Great political capital 
was sought to be made out of it. The number of arrests it 
would be impossible to give accurately, because they were 
made frequently without record kept, but during the time 
intervening before the November election they numbered 
several hundred, mostly of whites, with a sprinkling of 
Democratic negroes, but no Radicals. In one day thirty-two 
highly respectable citizens were thus arrested in Aiken 
County, and afterward discharged for want of evidence. 
General Hampton telegraphed to General M. C. Butler and 
General Hagood, to use their utmost influence to induce the 
people to submit to this martial law and to make no resist- 
ance, as it was of the greatest importance to furnish the 
Radicals with no pretext that could be tortured by fraudu- 
lent afiidavits into "campaign ammunition." The result of 
all this harrying was widespread distress throughout the 
country-side. Women and children had to be sent away from 
home to places of safety as the negroes were greatly elated 
and rendered very turbulent, night was made hideous, many 
a poor man's barn burned, and the lives of the aged and weak 
and of women and children were shortened. 

It had now reached the middle of October, and the anxiety 
in Washington over the coming Presidential and Congres- 
sional elections, to take place three weeks later, became very 
acute. It was evident that it would require the most ener- 
getic exertions to turn the tide against the Democrats in the 
country, and therefore the electoral vote and Congressional 
representation of South Carolina assumed an importance not 
attached to it, to the same extent, earlier in the campaign, 
and, besides, the capture of the State then was considered a 
foregone conclusion. In consequence of this, frantic efforts 
were put forth by the friends of the Radicals at the North. 
It proved a great misfortune to the State that the Hampton 
movement had taken place in the year of a Presidential elec- 
tion and was therefore complicated with it. Had it not been 
for this, the better elements of the Republican party at the 
North would have been loth to increase the load of dis- 
credit from the South, which they had already found it hard 
to carry. But the temptation of securing, by any means, the 



134 Hampton and Reconstruction 

electoral vote and the Congressional representation over- 
shadowed all other considerations. On the other hand, 
although the situation and doings in South Carolina fur- 
nished ammunition to the Democrats, and gained them votes 
at the North, yet their friends there could render but little 
assistance to their Southern confreres. There must always, 
probably, remain considerable uncertainty as to the share of 
responsibility of the State Radical party and its colleagues 
at the North acting through Federal office-holders in the 
State, for the worst and most extreme measures to carry the 
election in South Carolina. It is natural to suppose, how- 
ever, that the greater blame rests on the latter, as their temp- 
tation was even stronger, the stake being so large, and there 
are other reasons also for believing this. It is likely that the 
set purpose of bringing about collisions between the races — 
only thwarted by Hampton's inflexible rule and unsleeping 
vigilance — in order to "wave the bloody shirt," make arrests, 
and flood the State with troops, and the scheme to precipitate 
a conflict between these and the whites, were principally 
worked from outside the State officials, with some exceptions. 
Indeed it was so self-evident that, if very serious riots were 
brought about, the white "carpet-baggers" would suffer in 
the melee, that this exerted some restraining influence on 
them, while the Federal office-holders considered themselves 
to possess a chartered impunity, and were proportionately 
emboldened. It must be confessed, however, that many 
Republican journals at the North blamed Mr. Chamberlain 
very severely for "his plan of campaign" in arresting respect- 
able citizens without cause, on trumped up affidavits, and said 
that he was "ruining the Republican party," and "electing 
Tilden." The troops sent so freely to the State did not prove 
as overwhelming an instrument in the Radicals' hands as 
they had expected. The minor officers, whatever their 
politics might have been, soon took in the situation from 
personal observation, and saw that, as far as the State elec- 
tion was concerned, it was not a question of politics at all, 
but of plain, clear right against wrong. They could not mix 
in a friendly personal way with the "carpet-baggers," for they 
perceived that the social ostracism in which these were held 



Hampton Elected Governor . 135 

by the white population had too good cause, while they found 
in the residents people of congenial manners and feelings, 
and with these they fraternized. They were compelled to 
obey orders, frequently very distasteful ones, but a thing 
may be done humanely and judiciously, or harshly and 
cruelly, and few instances of the latter are known to the 
w^riter. As for the privates and non-commissioned of&cers, 
they were, one and all, strongly sympathetic with the white 
citizens. All this might have been different, if general poli- 
tics had entered 'into the situation, but locally politics was 
not in it at all, but only respectability against ignorance and 
crime. It was a different thing in 1867-68, when volunteer 
officers were employed, such men as Scott, for instance. The 
writer can vouch for the following. During the latter part 
of October two residents of Charleston were talking with a 
colonel of regulars, stationed there, and the conversation 
drifted to public affairs. 

"I hope there will be no trouble," said he. 

"There will be none coming from the white population. 
Colonel. It would be contrary to their interests. General 
Hampton's programme is, quiet/' 

"Oh, yes, I know that ; I can see that. But, if the whites 
lose patience at last, and there is trouble, I hope your friends 
will see to it that vengeance is not wreaked upon the poor 
misled negroes, but upon the white carpet-baggers, who are 
responsible for all this thing." 

On October 17 took place the Cainhoy Kiots. This little 
village is a few miles by water from Charleston. A joint- 
meeting for discussion was arranged to take place there, and 
a party, accompanied by their speakers, composed of Con- 
servatives and Kadicals, went from Charleston in a steamer 
to attend it. The former, as agreed upon, carried no rifles 
and not all were provided even with pocket pistols, as the 
Eadicals had pledged themselves to maintain order and that 
their friends would be without rifles. It was a neighborhood 
where the negroes were living in large numbers, and there 
were very few white residents. The blacks attending had 
hidden their rifles in a thicket contiguous to the place of 
meeting, and while this was in progress, without provocation. 



136 Hampton and Reconstruction 

by prearrangement, a riot was started. The negroes ran for 
their rifles close by, and from the advantage of the cover 
opened fire upon the whites, killing six of them, only one 
black being killed or wounded, as far as known. The whites 
got back to their boat some three miles distant and departed 
for Charleston, leaving their dead behind, not a very credit- 
able affair in that respect, but proving, at least, their non- 
resistance. That night a rifle club was despatched to the 
scene of the disturbance to protect the village, which was 
done without attempting to arrest any of the riotous negroes, 
and on the following day the club was amicably relieved by a 
company of United States troops, between whom and the 
rifle club the United States Marshal, Wallace, tried unsuc- 
cessfully to stir up trouble. A vigorous effort was made by 
the Radicals to twist this affair into political capital as was 
intended it should be, and the usual plan of procuring negro 
witnesses was put in practice, but owing to the forbearance — 
or more — proved by the whites, it did not turn out as good 
a card as had been expected. No negroes, however, were 
arrested, and they became in consequence more and more 
aggressive and disorderly, interfering greatly with the can- 
vass. The whole thing bore the stamp of prearrangement 
upon its face. Here was "domestic violence" of the real kind, 
but Mr. Chamberlain and the marshal used no troops or 
negro deputy-marshals to arrest the murderers. They were 
chartered for the work, while the best people in the upper 
counties were at the same time being hunted down for pro- 
tecting their homes from similar treatment. Within a few 
days of this occurrence, after a Hampton meeting held at 
Edgefield, six white farmers, respectable men, returning 
quietly to their homes, were ambushed by negroes with 
militia rifies, and one killed and one wounded. The Governor 
tried to do nothing, the marshal tried to do nothing, to punish 
the perpetrators of this "domestic violence," or to prevent the 
recurrence of such bloody "intimidation." Why was this so? 
Some time after this, when the campaign was over, "Honest 
John" Patterson said, "That Cainhoy massacre was a god- 
send to us. We could not have carried Charleston County 
without it," because of the encouragement thus given to the 



Hampton Elected Governor ' 137 

negroes to intimidate other negroes from voting the Demo- 
cratic ticket. He added that TOO arrests of Democrats were 
made during the campaign. 

On October 19 occurred one of the moves under the Ellen- 
ton Riot programme, which would probably have resulted in 
bloodshed but for w^onderful forbearance on the part of the 
aggrieved. A Democratic meeting, at which General Hamp- 
ton was present as speaker, took place at Aiken. Imme- 
diately after the speeches, the United States Marshal with 
a squad of troops arrested eleven of the principal Conserva- 
tives present on the usual charge of "conspiracy," the purpose 
evidently being to bring on a disturbance and thus embroil 
the citizens with United States troops. However, the 
arrested men quietly submitted, and after a while procured 
bail, thus frustrating the plan. The whole thing was the 
very refinement of cruelty. Wallace, the marshal, a "scala- 
wag" — the crop of such was very "short," thank God — had 
all the physical Federal machinery in his hands and, besides, 
the troops at his absolute disposal, and nearly every other 
negro you met in those days was a "deputy marshal" under 
him, drawing daily wages for harrying the whites. As the 
Governor was at the head of the State Radicals, so was Wal- 
lace "high up" among the Federal officeholders, and the con- 
fidential agent of his party leaders at the North and, as 
Attorney-General Taft said, "supreme" with the troops. He 
was to keep a watch, too, upon the other Federal officeholders, 
deputed to keep them lashed forward to seize the prize of the 
electoral vote and the Congressional delegation, and his exer- 
tions knew no bounds. This arrest, as I have said, was the 
very refinement of cruelty, for not only was the Aiken meet- 
ing a political affair but it partook also very largely of the 
nature of a social function. General Hampton was being 
welcomed by the men arrested not only as the leader of their 
political movement but also as the honored guest invited to 
partake of the warmest hospitality their homes could render. 
The studied insult to hosts and guest involved in this arrest, 
which could with equal ease have been effected at any other 
time, was unmistakably planned for the purpose, as we have 
already indicated, of involving a contest with the troops, and 



138 Hampton and Reconstruction 

that it did not serve the purpose intended was due only to a 
self-restraint that, it is no exaggeration to say, no man in the 
world but Hampton could have imposed. Colonel A. P. 
Butler, chairman of the meeting, was one of those arrested. 

The State "Conservative" Executive Committee gave to the 
country the true state of affairs, showing that there was no 
"domestic violence" in the State, and General Hampton also 
explicitly denied its existence. The Committee, under Gen- 
eral Hampton's authority, inquired of the Governor where 
the alleged "violence" existed, and pledged the readiness of 
the white population to act as legal posses under him to main- 
tain order there and elsewhere, but this offer was rejected, 
in somewhat heated language. The Governor, on October 
25, in a letter to the New York Times referring to Hamp- 
ton's denial, admits that the "civil officers had not been 
resisted in the execution of the laws," but adds that "resist- 
ance may exist without being physical." So here again we 
have the "telepathic violence" theory, and the admission that 
troops were called for on that ground alone — not a lawful 
one. 

A manifesto was also issued to the country signed by the 
principal clergymen in the State, including those of all 
denominations, certifying to the conditions existing and the 
absence of violence, and that the contest, as far as the State 
elections were concerned, was not one of politics at all, but of 
civilization represented by the white population, against 
barbarism led by thieves and vagabonds, the negro and the 
"carpet-bagger." This was published by the Democratic 
newspapers at the North, and also by a portion of the Repub- 
lican press, and had much effect : it knocked hard, and not in 
vain, for admission to the conscience of the people. It was 
evident to the most careless reader, that if the accounts 
emanating from the Radical leaders. State and Federal, were 
not absolutely untrue, then every clergyman whose signature 
was affixed to this paper — and many of these names were 
known far and wide — was a perjurer of the basest descrip- 
tion. 

In reply also to General Hampton, the Judges of the Su- 
preme Court and of the Circuit Court wrote letters, which 



Hampton Elected Governor 139 

were published, denying the truth of the Governor's state- 
ments to the effect that violence and disturbances existed, or 
that processes of the Courts were resisted or obstructed, and 
this information was all sent by Hampton to the President. 
The bankers and capitalists did the same thing, and also men 
of Northern birth resident in the State for business purposes. 
From this time on until election day, the exertions of both 
parties, already so manfully vigorous on one side, and on the 
other limited by no law, human or divine, grew daily more 
and more desperately strenuous. General Hampton seemed 
everywhere at once, working day and night. The only effect 
that the "proclamations," State and Federal, against the 
rifle clubs had had, was to stir up increased armed organiza- 
tion, which for the safety of hearth and home was thus 
demonstrated to be indispensable, if any further proof had 
been needed. Heavy importations of arms and ammunition 
were daily arriving, packed in dry-goods boxes, provision bar- 
rels, and other devices for eluding detection. Combinations 
for action between neighboring households of even three or 
four members would be made, where these did not already 
belong to some larger organization. Every man of responsi- 
bility combined with some one else for self-preservation. 
Red-shirted horsemen traversed the lonely country districts 
and seemed omnipresent at all the cross-roads. Democratic 
negroes must be protected, and much they needed it, and if 
this were "intimidation," then it was of such kind as law and 
order always seem to be to the evil-doer. The joint discus- 
sions went on more vehemently than ever, but the "Conserva- 
tives" took care not to be caught in a trap such as had been 
set for them at Cainhoy. The "Conservative" State Com- 
mittee endeavored to bring about such joint meetings at 
which General Hampton and Mr. Chamberlain should speak 
on the issues, but the other side fought shy of this, as indeed 
they always did, where possible, of all such meetings. It 
was quite understood on these occasions that the Radical 
leaders present would be considered somewhat in the light of 
hostages against a repetition of the Cainhoy affair, and a 
meaning glance, a tap on the butt of a pistol exhibited, and 



140 Hampton and Reconstruction 

the remark, "It looks squally. If I go, you go too," have been 
known to induce the party addressed to quiet his followers. 

All through this campaign there were none more resolute, 
untiring and courageous than the women. From the moment 
that Hampton's name was first flashed through the land as 
leader, until he was recognized as Governor at Washington 
and the troops withdrawn, their enthusiasm knew no abate- 
ment and their efficient work no cessation. 

One of the last great political demonstrations of the cam- 
paign was a notable celebration, a procession in Charleston 
on October 30, led by General Hampton accompanied by 
Senator Gordon of Georgia. All business was suspended, 
stores and houses flamed in welcoming bunting and banners, 
streets and residences along the route were crammed with 
white and black spectators cheering, while many hundred 
horsemen in column of twos, generally in red shirts, and a 
large number of negroes, red-shirted and mounted on mules, 
and thousands on foot marched to the music of the "Con- 
quering Hero," and similar strains. On an impressionable 
race, and one with strong reversionary, spectacular instincts, 
like the negro, a sight of this kind has a great effect, and that, 
of course, was the motive for this display of strength. 

It was from Charleston at this time that General Hampton 
sent, by invitation, a letter to the New York Tribune, which 
that journal published, as it said, "in justice to an honorable, 
brave gentleman." The letter denied every charge that the 
Governor had made about the existence of "domestic vio- 
lence," need of "troops" to preserve order, and other similar 
matters, and gave a dispassionate statement of the situation, 
which effected much good in the country. 

A sufficiently accurate picture of the situation in South 
Carolina during the decade preceding the events just related, 
has been furnished in the quotations given from Mr. Pike and 
Mr. Chamberlain. It will not be necessary to remind the 
reader of the disagreeable details. He will remember that 
everything which negro supremacy under the direction of 
carpet-bag guidance, backed up by the unstinted assistance 
of the Federal administration during the last eight years, 
could do, had been done to break up civil society and resolve 



Hampton Elected Governor 141 

it into its elements. Legislatures, Governors, and State 
officers existed only in name, and for the purpose of enriching 
themselves by plunder under the forms of law. Life and 
property, so far from being protected by their nominal guard- 
ians, found their greatest danger from these sources. The 
courts were notoriously corrupt and incompetent, crime 
under ordinary circumstances unpunished, and pardons, like 
cotton, for sale to the highest bidder. Elections were a farce, 
through the power exercised by the existing government of 
fraudulently miscounting votes and stuffing the ballot boxes. 
And now, after ten years of steadily increasing, almost in- 
credible evils, the white population found itself pitted 
against the whole force of the State and Federal power in an 
election, which anyone unacquainted with the situation 
would have considered hopeless, and yet which the "Con- 
servatives" felt confident of winning. Why should this have 
been so? How could it have been thus? One would have 
supposed that the disintegration of society would have been 
so complete, that the disorganized units would have been so 
scattered and remained in such hopeless, listless, segrega- 
tion, that emigration from the State by the respectable part 
of the population would have left it within those ten years as 
a hybrid community of the "carpet-bagger" and the negro. 
Yet so far was this from being the result, so all powerful was 
the centripetal force in the nature of the white race, so in- 
destructible the cohesive power in an Anglo-Saxon people, 
that, amid this "darkest Africa," and because of it, they 
were solidified — instead of being disrupted — and within their 
phalanx preserved the substance of civilization and main- 
tained religion and letters and the amenities of life. With- 
out police or militia, and worse than without them, they 
individually armed and organized. By the compelling will 
of an able bar and the momentum of long established usages, 
the machinery of the Courts was made to serve after a fashion 
for ordinary business between man and man, where the 
negro and carpet-bagger were not concerned. Social inter- 
course went on almost as usual. Commercial transactions, 
though greatly hampered, pursued the customary routine 
and farmers raised their crops for market. There was 



142 Hampton and Reconstruction 

marrying and giving in marriage. More than this: the 
necessities of the times drew out men of brains, courage, and 
energy from their firesides, men who had never held office, 
and looked down upon it as an avocation, and thus was given 
to the community when the Hampton regim^ came such a 
number of efficient public officers as it had rarely before pos- 
sessed. Why was all this so? The answer is, because of the 
centripetal force, the cohesive tendency, the cooperative 
hand-grasp of the principle of representative government. 
It is in the life-blood of our race, an ineradicable instinct. 
Fling such a people upon a new desert continent entirely 
separated for a century to come from all intercourse with the 
outside world, and after that interval you would find a 
community equal to their fellowmen in civilization, though 
it may be with different ideals. But subject an equal num- 
ber of educated negroes of unmixed blood to the same 
experiment, and long before the end of the century we should 
find the Guinea-coast race duplicated. If it has required 
several centuries beyond a thousand years, assuming repre- 
sentative government to have had its origin in the feudal sys- 
tem, and with a receptive race, for it to acquire its present 
fruition with us, how many thousands of years will be neces- 
sary for the negro, with no hereditary aptitude and strong 
reversionary tendencies, to become imbued with even the 
elementary principles of civil liberty? 

The State and Federal elections took place on Novem- 
ber 7. 

Throughout the rural districts the negroes came in mar- 
shaled masses, and were voted by their leaders like so many 
sheep. They could very rarely read the tickets, but obedi- 
ently took what were handed them. The chances for cheating 
in their votes were much greater than for whites, and they 
are past-masters in repeating, as they are very difficult of 
identification, being generally so much alike in appearance. 
Favorite weapons with them, where they had not guns, were 
clubs through the ends of which were driven large nails, or 
spikes projecting on each side, which resembled those used 
by their African ancestors, and were probably the result 
of reversionary recollection. In Charleston the streets. 



Hampton Elected Governor 143 

especially near the polling booths, swarmed all day with hun- 
dreds of negro deputy sheriffs and United States marshals, 
with badges indicating their office, armed with ferocious- 
looking sticks, and generally with pistols concealed beneath 
their clothes, and plentifully supplied with liquor. No Dem- 
ocratic negro could be got to the polls, unless well guarded : 
otherwise these deputies of the marshal would beat and chase 
him away. In fact throughout the campaign the cruelties 
exercised or incited against negro Democrats by the marshal 
or his deputies were revolting. There were enrolled in negro 
Democratic clubs alone some eight thousand members, and 
this excited great indignation among the "trooly loil." Be- 
cause of the urgent need of securing the electoral vote, the 
means practised were more extreme as time went on. There 
were no collisions of consequence, however, not as many 
probably as took place on the same day in most other States. 
The order and discipline maintained among the whites were 
complete, and the absence of disturbances was entirely due to 
their self-restraint. 

I relate the following incident because it illustrates "intim- 
idation" within my own actual experience ; not only that, but 
official intimidation, that is to say, intimidation by United 
States civil officers acting in their official capacity and em- 
ployed so to act. Of course there were hundreds of similar 
instances. 

On the morning of the election day a negro, whom I had 
been in the habit of employing from time to time as a boat- 
man on shooting excursions to islands not far from the city, 
came to me with the information that he had twelve negroes 
well in hand who wished to vote the Democratic ticket, pro- 
vided I personally guaranteed their protection. This I prom- 
ised. Isaac — this was the name of my man — "had a story," 
several of them, probably. I had missed him at one time for 
about a year, and on again coming across him, inquired where 
he had been in the interval. 

"Bin in Columbia, Boss," said he, as airily as a young lady 
might tell of her return from her first European trip. 

"Ah, you have been working up there, eh?" 



144 Hampton and Reconstruction 

"Not wukin' thar, Boss," said he, proudly ; "bin in de peni- 
tentiary, but dey tu'n me loose now." 

"You have been there? And what for?" 

"Jist 'case I killed another nigger on Jim Island." 

"What did you do that for?" 

"You see, Boss," — with a lamb-like look — "we was a'ter de 
same gal." 

As there was only a lady in the ease, I added my "pa'don" 
to that of the Governor, and took Isaac back into my good 
graces, for he was reliable when not drunk — which he usually 
was — and he had always been honest. 

Three of my friends offered to go Avith me to the polls to 
protect my voters. So we put the twelve in column of fours, 
with the odd one, Isaac, behind (this position was assigned 
him at his earnest request). One of us went in front, one in 
the rear, and one on each flank, and started with our voters, 
who were well primed with "Dutch courage," for the polls. 
Thirteen is said to be an unlucky number, and it proved so 
in this case. All went well, our black army as bold as 
Nubian lions, until we came within about a hundred yards of 
the booths; and then a change came over the spirit of their 
dream. They were spied by the United States Deputy Mar- 
shals (all negroes), conspicuous by official badges, armed 
with formidable clubs, and known to have concealed weapons. 
These swarmed around us, brandishing their barbaric clubs, 
and filling the air with blasphemy and threats. We paid no 
attention whatever to their demonstrations, ignoring them 
altogether, and marching silently on. Not so our negroes. 
They were perfectly safe, covered by us, could not be got at 
except through us, and the first attempt at that would have 
been effctually quelled by our "peace-makers," for then the 
moment would have come when endurance would have ceased 
to be a virtue. But our Nubian lions had been transformed 
into lambs. Their faces turned from black to greenish, yel- 
lowish, hideous hue, their sign of terror. However, we got 
our black Macedonian phalanx (nearly all of it) almost to 
the booths, when our intended voters could stand it no longer, 
broke and incontinently fled, headed by Isaac, at a pace that 
would have distanced a professional sprinter ; then the United 



Hampton Elected Governor 145 

States Deputy Marshals fled in the opposite direction. This, 
it will be remembered, occurred in the year of our Lord 1876, 
in the centennial year of independence, of independence from 
tyranny, under representative government so-called, when 
the slogan of the anti-Lincoln faction, employing these very 
officials for the purpose of intimidating voters, was "a free 
ballot and a fair count," 

The returns were coming in all night, and as the telegrams 
were posted on the newspaper bulletin-boards, the probability 
of the success of the State and Federal Conservative tickets 
gradually became a conviction, and the joy was very great. 
At the North also the election of the Democratic Presidential 
ticket was at first conceded by most of the Republican press, 
as it would have required the electoral votes of South Caro- 
lina, Louisiana, and Florida to elect Hayes, and all those 
States showed on the returns Tilden majorities. But almost 
immediately a claim to Republican electors in the three States 
States named was made, and measures were pressed to obtain 
them through the returning boards. On the following day, 
that succeeding the election, the riots were started in Charles- 
ton which have been referred to in a former page of this nar- 
rative. They were apparently not accidental, for all the 
circumstantial evidence would point to design, and the fact 
that no riots took place on election day, and not until the 
following day, after it had been determined by Republican 
headquarters at the North to claim the electoral vote through 
the returning board, adds to the weight of the other indica- 
tions. Riots were started at several points in Charleston, 
but the principal attempt took place on Broad street about 
three hundred yards from where the police headquarters then 
were, on the site of the present postoffice. About fifty or 
more men were near the bulletin-board of The News and 
Courier, when an attack was attempted upon them from the 
direction of the police headquarters, the party being com- 
posed altogether of negroes, who were believed to be the same 
as those acting as United States deputy marshals the day 
before. At the first intimation that the attack was to be 
made, a negro policeman, standing in the crowd about the 
bulletin-board, fired his pistol twice among the bystanders. 



146 Hampton and Reconstruction 

and then fled down a narrow street running at right 
angles, and thus escaped. No one was hit bj his shots, 
strange to say. His conduct was supposed to be the result of 
previous knowledge of the intended attack. The attack was 
repelled by the foremost of the by-standers, without any 
serious harm to either side, as far as known, and after that, 
but not until the street was clear of rioters, a large squad of 
policemen emerged from headquarters, and marched down 
the street in the direction of the bulletin-board with rifles at 
the '^charge bayonets." There would certainly have been 
bloodshed, for the by-standers were in no mood to submit 
to this proceeding, when two mounted men, dispatched 
from "Conservative" headquarters, galloped ahead of the 
police column, thus reaching the crowd before the latter could 
come up and vehemently impressed upon every one Hamp- 
ton's orders to avoid at all hazards a conflict with the police, 
which would be used as a pretext for violence, and therefore 
do harm in regard to election returns. The principal rifle 
clubs at once assembled at their club rooms. Colonel Hunt, 
commanding the United States troops in the place, was com- 
municated with, and turned out his men to clear the streets 
of all rioters and vagrant negroes, and invited the com- 
mander of a rifle club to have his men fall in at the rear of the 
Federal column and thus march through the town, which 
was done. This had a wonderfully quieting effect upon the 
negroes, as it demonstrated to them that the white popula- 
tion and the troops were fraternizing for the sake of order, 
while they had been told by their leaders to expect support 
from the troops. It also very much incensed "Carpet-bagger" 
Worthington, Ivadical Collector of the Port, who protested 
against it, until silenced by the firm, dignifled reply of the 
Colonel. Worthington, however, reported to Washington, 
and Colonel Hunt was within a few days, removed from com- 
mand, but his conduct doubtless saved bloodshed and, as 
the electoral vote of the State was eventually secured, the 
parties who planned the affair, when reason returned after 
all, must have been glad that he acted as he did. During that 
night the city was safe-guarded by foot and mounted patrols 
of the clubs and the troops. 



Hampton Elected Governor 147 

As we have said, Colonel Hunt v^-as removed from command 
in South Carolina and transferred elsewhere at Worthing- 
ton's instance. Hunt was a Colonel in the regular army, but 
had the rank of general of volunteers during the war, and 
was, I think, at this time brevet brigadier general. He had 
been in the army all of his life, had married in army circles, 
and most of his associations were there. He neither pos- 
sessed nor desired political "pull." At Gettysburg and on 
other fields he had performed most gallant service with the 
artillery and was, withal, socially and professionally, a man 
of the very highest character. He had made a report on 
November 27 of his service in South Carolina, including 
the riots of November 8 in Charleston, but this report the 
public never saw until late in January — too late to injure the 
politicians — and presumably it would never have seen the 
light at all had it not been for Hunt's causing it to be made 
public, as a vindication of his conduct. In this report — 
w^hich is a long one, entering into details — he says that the 
only disturbers of the peace during his command were Re- 
publican negroes and that Worthington circulated false 
reports among them in order to inflame them to riot. 

I think anyone, who will study this subject, or who will 
even dispassionately read this narrative, will be compelled to 
come to the conclusion, as I have reluctantly been compelled 
to do, that there was a deliberate plot at the commencement 
of, and throughout the campaign of 1876 in South Carolina, 
by the Radical leaders there to stir up bloodshedding by the 
negroes, which being resisted from motives of self-preserva- 
tion by the white population, would enable the Radical 
leaders to flood the State with United States troops, embroil 
the whites with them and the Washington administration, 
and thus render easy the prevention of the canvass on the 
part of the "Conservatives," and I am also compelled to 
admit, that there is the best of reason for believing that 
some of the principal leaders at the North of the party then 
in power were fully privy to this plot. This is a grave charge, 
for it was a horrible thing to have done, and no one is more 
averse than the writer to be forced, by knowledge of facts, 
to believe it. 



148 Hampton and Keconstruction 

CHAPTER SIXTH 

The Campaign After the Election of Hampton 

God Is our guide. 

No sword we draw, 

We kindle not War's battle-fires, 

By union, justice, reason, law. 

We claim the birth-right of our sires 

By law it was allotted to the Board of Canvassers of the 
State to examine the returns and certify to the Secretary of 
State the sealed returns for Governor and Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, and who by the face of the returns were elected State 
Senators and Representatives. But the Board had no right 
to go behind the returns, the two houses of the Legislature 
being the exclusive judges of the election of their own mem- 
bers, and, after organizing in joint session, were to pass 
upon and declare the election of Governor and Lieutenant- 
Governor. But in this election, three of the five members 
composing the Board of Canvassers were candidates for 
reelection, and were therefore admittedly disqualified from 
canvassing any of the votes, all the State candidates at that 
time being voted for on one ticket. 

The votes by law were to be and had been counted pub- 
licly immediately after the closing of the polls by the pre- 
cinct managers (two Republicans and one Democrat), w'ho 
then and there made statements of the results, and forwarded 
them to the Board of County Managers, who from these state- 
ments made the proper County statements, and forw^arded 
these last, along with the precinct-managers' returns, the 
poll-lists, and all papers appertaining to the election, to the 
Board of State Canvassers. It goes without saying, that if 
it w^ere left to the Board of Canvassers to decide protests, 
it could, and would "count in" whomsoever it chose, with- 
out reference to the votes actually cast. This w^as the way 
in which it had been done for the last ten years, and that 
was the programme intended by this Board, which was quite 
as bad as any of the preceding ones. Of course this had been 
foreseen and provided against, for otherwise the wiiole elec- 
tion would have been simply a farce. Congress, with a loud 



The Campaign after the Election 149 

guffaw, had passed the Reconstruction Acts intended to give 
a "solid South" forever to the party of Thaddeus Stevens and 
Morton, but he laughs best who laughs last, and the time was 
coming for this latter laugh. 

On the grounds above mentioned, the intervention of the 
Supreme Court of the State was obtained. But with the cor- 
ruption and incompetency pervading the State Government, 
it may well be asked how relief in the direction of justice was 
to be looked for from the Supreme Court. It was for this 
reason. The Court was composed of three members. Chief 
Justice Moses, Mr. Willard, and a negro, Wright, who had 
come early in "Reconstruction" from Massachusetts. 

F. J. Moses was a Republican, it is true, and could not 
otherwise have obtained the oflflcial position which he held. 
Though the presumption of respectability would not be in 
those times in South Carolina in favor of a resident mem- 
ber of that party, yet there were reasons why his was an 
exceptional case. He had accepted the position, in large 
measure, to prevent it from falling into worse hands, and 
had in this the approval of the bar. He came of a family 
long and favorably known in the State. His great misfor- 
tune, for which he merited pity, not obloquy, was being the 
father of the notorious man who had been one of the Recon- 
struction Governors. The family of General Hampton had 
been looked up to with great respect and consideration in 
the community for a hundred years and more, and Moses 
considered himself under obligations to Colonel Wade Hamp- 
ton, the father of the General, and for the latter personally 
had a high esteem and admiration. In the contest raging in 
1876 the side of right and the side of wrong could not be in 
doubt to anyone with the facts daily before his eyes. More- 
over, Mr. Moses was not personally on good terms with Mr. 
Chamberlain and his followers. From this it will be seen 
that the Chief Justice could be counted upon in the present 
crisis to follow the only course open to him, if he wished to 
act justly and honestly, and that was all that Hampton 
desired. 

Justice Willard had come to the State from the North. To 
better his condition and succeed in life were doubtless his 



150 Hampton and Reconstruction 

creditable motives, but he seems to have come with honest 
intentions. Imbued with the belief in negro poltieal equality, 
in which he had been educated, he accepted the sequence of 
the blacks' right to vote and thereby, when in a majority, 
their right to rule. But when these theories had been reduced 
to practice, and the deplorable results were before his eyes 
every day, he did what any sane and honest man must have 
done under like circumstances: he changed his opinions. 
Moreover he had a summer cottage in Cashier's Valley, 
among the beautiful Appalachians of North Carolina, near 
General Hampton's mountain home, and here sickness had 
invaded his household. It is a good old Southern custom, 
which nothing can extirpate, that when the faintest shadow 
of the wing of the angel of death darkens a home, or 
threatens an individual, not only is the bitterest enemy then 
in the sanctuary of the temple, but — far more than that — all 
antecedents are at once forgotten, and human sympathy, 
kindness, and help are poured forth unstintedly. And this 
happened to Willard at the hands of General Hampton and 
his family, and, fortunately for the credit of men and women, 
such things are not easily nor quickly forgotten. The con- 
sequence was that Willard imbibed that personal feeling 
toward the General which the latter had the faculty of 
creating in all with whom he came in contact. 

The third member of the Court was Wright, who was a 
profligate, ignorant negro, and, as long as their money lasted, 
to be counted upon to do the bidding of his Radical masters, 
but his obstructive part in dissenting from rulings would be 
practically nullified by the other two justices. 

The case before the Supreme Court was against the Board 
of Canvassers (the Returning Board), who were represented 
by Corbin, as counsel, although he was at this time United 
States District Attorney. The result was that the Court 
issued a mandamus commanding the Board of Canvassers 
and the Secretary of State to declare duly elected and to 
issue certificates to that effect to those who had received by 
the returns the greatest number of votes for the offices of 
State Senators and members of the House of Representatives. 
This would enable the two houses to meet in joint session, 



The Campaign after the Election 151 

and open the sealed votes and declare the election of Gover- 
nor and Lieutenant-Governor, the Hampton party having a 
majority of one on joint ballot and its popular majority being 
over twelve hundred. This order would also apply to the 
Congressmen elected, but subject to contest before the House, 
of course. The Court also issued another order to the Board 
having reference to the votes for Presidential electors, which 
in effect would compel the Board to bring into court its 
report on the votes for electors, with all official papers and 
documents relating to them, thus making it possible for a just 
result to be arrived at by the Court, and a declaration of elec- 
tion and corresponding certificates to be ordered issued by 
the Board. But the Board had a member present in court on 
watch and got wind of the issuance of these orders before 
the official papers could reach them, and at once adjourned 
sine die, thus ending finally, as claimed, their functions and 
existence as a Board. Before doing so, however, they threw 
out the returns from Edgefield and Laurens counties, and 
issued certificates for the Legislature and Presidential 
electors, based upon the thus fraudulently mutilated returns. 
This would have given a majority in the Legislature to the 
Radicals, with the power to "count in" their man for Gov- 
ernor, and would also give the electors to Hayes. It was a 
smart attorney's trick; that and nothing more. The Board 
could not terminate its existence, and at the same time per- 
petrate a patent fraud, while actually in the hands of the 
Supreme Court supervising its action with the view of 
preventing fraud. It was a bold proceeding, the result of 
desperation and confidence of immunity from punishment 
as in similar cases in former years, and in accordance with a 
prearranged plot. Not only the control of the State govern- 
ment, but also of the United States government for the suc- 
ceeding four years, was trembling in the balance. The temp- 
tation was great and the telegrams from Washington impera- 
tive, and support from there was promised and given. On the 
other hand, if the Hampton government could sustain itself, 
and with it the Tilden electors, not only did political ruin 
stare in the face the South Carolina Radical politicians, but 
also personal ruin, and the penitentiary would yawn for 



152 Hampton and Reconstruction 

many of them, when honest courts were reestablished. It 
is no wonder then, that they took this, and subsequent des- 
perate risks, for their game now made this course the lesser 
peril to them. And the plight of the Northern politicians was 
little less critical, as far as their political life was concerned, 
and they could be counted upon for seconding their Radical 
workers in the State without inconvenient scrupulousness as 
to means. 

When the Supreme Court was apprised of the conduct of 
the Board of Canvassers it imprisoned all the members for 
contempt and subjected them to fines. Judge Bond of the 
United States Circuit Court had, however, found it con- 
venient to be in Columbia at this time, although he had no 
business to transact there until a week or more later. He at 
once issued an order releasing the Board from custody. His 
Court was entirely without jurisdiction in the premises, the 
matter being exclusively between the State and its own 
officers. This was so clear that he never even attempted a 
justification, or excuse for his conduct. It was on the face 
of it a mere political move, entirely outside of law, and quite 
on the plane of the order of Judge Durell in New Orleans 
against the McEnery government, the only excuse attempted 
for which was a very shady one, the alleged drunkenness of 
the Judge. But no explanation at all was vouchsafed by 
Judge Bond, and his illegal act served to prevent the Supreme 
Court from compelling the Board of Canvassers to perform 
its duty under the supervision of the Court. 

As for the consummated plot of the Board of Canvassers, it 
was construed to stand for the action of the State in regard to 
the Presidential electors, and consequently made Hayes Pres- 
ident. That is not an exhilarating thought for a patriotic 
American. A State by the grace of Thaddeus Stevens and 
Morton, unable, by the assertions of its own Governor, to 
perform any of the functions of government, or to exist at 
all unless sustained by Federal bayonets : a Returning Board 
chiefly of negroes, notoriously corrupt and guilty of a trick 
devised for it by others equally corrupt but abler than it, 
which consigned its members to jail ; a Federal Judge block- 
ing the wheels of the Supreme Court ; a Republican majority 



The Campaign after the Election 153 

on the Electoral Commission declaring the action of the 
Board valid on the strictest of "States' Rights" technicalities, 
contrary to the merits of the case, and the will of the people — 
this was surely a curiosity of politics. 

It will be remembered that trouble loomed ahead in the 
counting by the two houses of Congress of the electoral votes. 
There were two sets of returns from each of the States of 
South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, and a disputed vote 
from Oregon. It v/as necessary for all these to be counted for 
Hayes, if he were to be declared elected. The Democrats had 
the House, the Republicans the Senate and President, and 
"South American methods" were consequently feared by the 
country. The Democrats, thinking their case safe, as any 
one point decided in their favor would give them the Presi- 
dency, consented to the Electoral Commission Act, by which 
ten members of the Senate and House representing equally 
both parties, and four designated members of the Supreme 
Court, also equally divided politically, with power to choose 
a fifth from the members of the Court, should decide all 
disputed points. This was a revolutionary proceeding, but 
was done doubtless for the best, and to prevent a possible 
recourse to force to solve the riddle. But the Democrats were 
out-generaled — not for the first time nor the last time. It 
was understood that Judge David Davis would be the fifth 
member chosen on the Commission from the Justices of the 
Supreme Court. He had been a Republican of the Lincoln 
school, but had not gone with the new ways of the party of 
Stevens and Grant, and would certainly not have ruled all 
points in favor of the latter, and would have been, in point of 
fact, the umpire, as otherwise the Commission stood seven of 
each party. Had he been on the Commission, Tilden would 
have been President. But either the Democrats were incred- 
ibly stupid, or else there was bad faith somewhere, for on 
January 25, after the bill had passed the Senate and the day 
before it passed the House, the Democrats in the Illinois 
Legislature elected Mr. Davis United States Senator, and he, 
accepting the position of Senator-elect, resigned his judge- 
ship on the ground that he could not, under the circum- 
stances, honorably serve on the Commission, as presumably a 



154 Hampton and Reconstruction 

partizan. This resulted in the appointment to the decisive 
position on the Commission of Justice Bradley, who, when 
the time came, cast his vital vote invariably in favor of his 
party, thus giving Hayes the Presidency on "eight to seven" 
votes on each occasion, as the points came up. The Justices 
of the Supreme Court proved just as good party men as any 
other politicians could possibly have done, but the fact of the 
majority deciding the vital points on the "States' Rights" 
principle cannot but be deemed a little refreshing by pos- 
terity, considering the source from which this reversionary 
impulse so suddenly came, for they were not before that time 
credited with having sat at the feet of Calhoun, nor were they 
afterward. 

The Board of Canvassers had, at a former stage of the pro- 
ceedings in the Supreme Court, made a report to the Court 
of the members-elect of the Legislature according to the face 
of the returns, and this was matter of record. As the Board 
had failed to comply with the further orders of the Court, 
and had ceased to exist by Judge Bond's action, it necessarily 
devolved upon the Court to perfect their duties left unper- 
formed. The Court consequently ordered its clerk to give 
certificates of election to the eight members from the Coun- 
ties of Edgefield and Laurens, shown to have been elected 
according to the returns. With these and the members certi- 
fied by the Secretary of State, the Conservatives had a 
majority in the House, and a majority of one on joint ballot 
with the Senate. 

^On November 28 the Legislature was to meet. But two 
days before that time Secretary of War J. D. Cameron, in 
accordance with orders received by him from the Executive, 
ordered General Ruger, then at Columbia, to "sustain" Mr. 
Chamberlain as Governor "until a new Governor shall be 
duly and legally inaugurated under the Constitution. The 
Government had been called upon to aid with the military 
and naval forces of the United States to maintain Republican 
government in the State against resistance too formidable to 
be overcome by the State authorities. You are directed 
therefore to sustain Governor Chamberlain in his authority 
against domestic violence until otherwise directed." General 



The Campaign after the Election 155 

Ruger was ordered "to advise with the Governor and dispose 
your troops in such manner as may be deemed best." 

These are plain words with a clearly defined meaning and 
purpose. "The Government has been called upon to main- 
tain Republican government"; by whom called upon? By 
Mr. Chamberlain, claiming to have been reelected, and by 
such men as Patterson, the "carpet-bag" Senator from the 
State, a man admittedly a thief and, what is worse even, not 
ashamed of it. "Against resistance"? Resistance from 
whom? Not only had General Hampton, whose w^ord no one 
doubted, and the Democratic Executive Committee, composed 
of citizens of the highest character, and Senators from New 
Jersey and Georgia, then at Columbia, and many others, 
denied vehemently in telegrams and letters the existence, or 
danger of "violence" or "resistance" ; but so would, or had, 
every other responsible man in the State cognizant of the 
situation. Not only so, but it was well known, that Hamp- 
ton's policy was not one of "resistance" in the sense of force. 
There could not possibly have been any mistake or misappre- 
hension. It was simply an attempt, by purely "South Ameri- 
can methods," to set uj) a usurping State government and 
thus, by color of it, to increase the chances of securing the 
electoral vote, and inaugurating a Republican President. 
And we shall see in a moment that the programme thus 
commenced was carried out on precisely these lines. It will 
not serve to say, "Let the dead past bury its dead. We are 
now a reunited country. Do not open old sores." It is not 
the dead past. Precedents are never dead, but always live 
on the record, vital, abounding in strength, ready to leap into 
the arena unexpectedly, armed to the teeth, strenuous, with 
drawn sword. History is "philosophy teaching by example," 
or, better expressed, is common sense teaching by prece- 
dents. What happened once may happen again, if unheeded, 
and next time, perhaps, in Massachusetts or Ohio. There are 
many "burning questions" that will be coming to the front 
at the North, and the South has yet her "racial question" to 
be tinkered with, at least a question made artificially "racial" 
by the effects of the Reconstruction Acts and the Amend- 
ments and outside misguided interference with a conscien- 
tious people's best endeavors. 



156 Hampton and Reconstruction 

On the evening of November 27, the State Capitol was 
seized by troops under General Ruger's orders, as directed 
by Chamberlain. All semblance of civil government was thus 
destroyed. 

At twelve o'clock on November 28, the "Conservative" 
(Democratic) members of the House, accompanied by the 
Governor-elect, Hampton, went together to the State House. 
After some little delay at the entrance, they were admitted, 
and proceeded to the Representative Hall, intending to enter 
there and organize in accordance with law. At the door of 
the Representative Hall these representatives of the people, 
acting in accordance with the spirit and the forms of repre- 
sentative government, were met by a corporal and a file of 
United States troops in charge of persons named Dennis and 
Jones, deputed for the purpose by Chamberlain. This Den- 
nis was without any official status, a "carpet-bagger" of very 
bad character, who would have been in the penitentiary under 
normal government. This individual instructed the soldiers 
as to whom they were to admit or exclude. The way was 
thus barred by bayonets against the representatives from 
Edgefield and Laurens Counties bearing the certificates of 
the clerk of the Supreme Court. Upon that their colleagues 
all withdrew from the chamber, and read a solemn protest 
against their exclusion by military force. 

When apprised of what had occurred, a large number of 
citizens from the town and adjacent counties, who had come 
to witness the opening of the Legislature, became wrought 
up by the outrage to an indescribable state of excitement. 
They were not at all a mob of loafers or noisy boys, but men 
of all ages and conditions, sober-minded, law-abiding. God- 
fearing citizens, who "know their rights, and knowing dared 
maintain," the bone, muscle, and brains of the community, 
farmers, merchants, artizans, lawyers, and physicians. For 
ten long, weary, bitter years they had been ground down 
under the heel nominally of negro supremacy, but in fact 
by "carpet-baggers" supported by Washington; they had 
been impoverished and insulted by thieves; harried and 
maltreated by troops and deputy marshals; the demon of 



The Campaign after the Election 157 

the "nameless crime," unknown before, created by legisla- 
tion in their midst, and lynching, the only punisher in the 
absence of courts worthy of the name, let loose among them. 
They had cried aloud to God in their agony from every 
church in the State, and at length He had listened to their 
prayer, and led by the greatest man who had ever trod the 
soil of their State, they had, against tremendous odds of 
money and force unscrupulously used, won an election, which 
was to set them free. But now, between their liberty thus 
won by the fair agencies of representative government, is 
thrust the bayonet of military power directed by the miser- 
able creature, Dennis, whom no honest man would permit in 
his kitchen, "South American methods" are substituted for 
representative government. The pent up indignation, the 
righteous indignation, of those ten years was seething in the 
veins of these distinctively American men. And well they 
knew their power, and that, at a word of command from 
Hampton, the Capitol would be instantly swept clean of all 
intruders. Armed, as always necessary in those times, many 
of them practised in the use of weapons on famous Virginian 
fields, they awaited, but not in patience, the order which 
their hearts craved, and the murmur of the coming storm, at 
first faint, like distant wind, was gradually swelling in 
volume. The stern battle-scarred faces of middle-aged men, 
the flushed cheeks of boys, the unimpassioned but resolute 
features of the old were there, all inspired by a common 
feeling. 

Mr. Chamberlain sat in the Governor's private room, and 
by his side General Ruger; they heard the ominous sound, 
and negroes now tallow-colored with fear, came running to 
tell them of the impending danger. The Governor had "a 
very unpleasant quarter of an hour," as the French say, only 
that he compressed it into fewer seconds. At his suggestion, 
General Ruger ordered an officer to seek out General Hamp- 
ton, and request of him, as a favor, to quiet the citizens. It 
was indeed a hard thing to bring one's self to do — to request 
Hampton to save them — but it was necessary, and they swal- 
lowed it. It shows, too, what perfect confidence they, as 
every one else, had in Hampton's power to control the people, 



158 Hampton and Reconstruction 

and how baseless their former assertions of "domestic vio- 
lence." 

Hampton gravely and quietly complied with the request 
thus reluctantly wrung from the Governor. Walking out 
upon the steps of the Capitol, he addressed the people. As his 
grand, noble figure towered against the background of the 
stately edifice, complete silence fell upon the assemblage a 
second before surging and murmuring in storm. The people 
knew not what his coming meant ; it might be, as they hoped, 
to give the order to clear the State House of usurpers, and 
alert, but quiet, they grasped their weapons, every eye among 
the throng fixed on his face in mute appeal and perfect confi- 
dence. It was a spectacle to witness, the "born leader of 
men" at a momentous crisis. Once witnessed, you would have 
known forever that there is a mighty psychic power, a spir- 
itual overwhelming force, which goes out from the soul of 
one man in a supreme moment, mastering the wills of his 
fellowmen. 

The words which he spoke were few and simple, with no 
meretricious rhetoric, no vulgar attempt at oratory, no 
catchy, sensational phrases. They were only the calmly 
uttered wise words of a leader confident of himself and sure 
of his people. He said : 

"My friends, I am truly doing what I have done earnestly 
during this whole exciting contest — pouring oil upon the 
troubled waters. It is of the greatest iniportance to us all, as 
citizens of South Carolina, that peace should be preserved. 
I appeal to you all, white and colored, as Carolinians, to use 
every effort to keep down violence or turbulence. One act 
of violence may precipitate bloodshed and desolation. I 
implore you, then, to preserve the peace. I beg all of my 
friends to disperse, to leave the grounds of the Capitol, and 
advise all the colored men to do the same. Keep perfectly 
quiet, leave the streets, and do nothing to provoke a riot. We 
trust to the law and the Constitution, and we have perfect 
faith in the justice of our cause. I have been elected your 
Governor, and, so help me God, I will take my seat." 

As I have said, the silence had been profound from the 
moment the General was seen on the steps of the Capitol, nor 



The Campaign after the Election 159 

was it different when he ceased speaking, except that one 
could hear the muffled tread of hundreds retiring, as he had 
requested them to do, without a word spoken. With a silent 
assent and obedience, the most perfect tribute that man can 
pay to man, that crowd, a moment before so fierce and threat- 
ening, melted quietly away, like little children sent home 
from school, and all was quiet at the Capitol ; peace reigned, 
but not "the peace of Warsaw" — the peace of Hampton. Not 
the peace of "proclamations" and of serried ranks of troops 
marshaled to prevent "domestic violence" by means of blood- 
shed, but the peace of intellect, conscience, and unswerving 
will, as opposed to brute force. 

When Hampton commenced speaking there was a fine, 
tall, stalwart fellow from the country, evidently a leader, 
standing near him, and to this man his words therefore 
seemed chiefly addressed. It was a study to watch that man's 
face. At first, before Hampton had begun speaking, his ex- 
pression was that of one about to engage in a life or death 
struggle — eyebrows drawn down in a fierce frown, eyes steely, 
lips firmly pressed together, and every muscle of the body ap- 
parently tense. When the first sentence was spoken the 
frown relaxed, presently the eyes gradually lost that terrible 
look, and when the last sentence was uttered the lips abso- 
lutely parted in a kindly, good-natured smile. "It is all 
right," for had not Hampton said it? 

The "Conservative" members-elect of the Legislature, being- 
excluded from their regular place of meeting in the Capitol 
by soldiers, occupied other quarters in the town, and organ- 
ized the House, electing W. H. Wallace speaker. 

Mr. Chamberlain's adherents, having obtained possession 
of the regular Representative Hall through the intervention 
of the soldiery, made an illegal organization of the House, 
being without a regular quorum, which had to be calculated 
with regard to the whole number of representatives. They 
elected a "scalawag," E. W. M. Mackey, speaker. He was 
married to a respectable colored girl — more was the pity 
for her. The only thing known in his favor was that he 
possessed physical courage, which was so rare among his 
party friends that it conferred on him quite a prestige, and 



160 Hampton and Eeconstruction 

was a valuable asset. A mandamus was applied for to the 
Supreme Court ordering Maekey to hand over to Mr. Wal- 
lace, Speaker of the House, the returns received from the 
Secretary of State, but the order was refused on the ground 
that a mandamus was applicable only to a public officeholder, 
and Maekey, having no official position in law, could not be 
brought into court. This settled, by the decision of the 
highest authority in the State, that the Maekey House was 
not legal, was not the House of Representatives at all. 

General Ruger, having discovered that Dennis had not 
possessed even the color of authority for directing his squad 
of soldiers in passing on the credentials of the Representa- 
tives, expressed to General Hampton's friends regret for the 
occurrence, which he attributed to a mistake. It was replied 
that this expression of regret was gratifying in a personal 
sense as a reparation for the affront, but that it left the prac- 
tical injury unremedied, and it was asked that he undo his 
work, and let affairs begin de novo. This he did not in terms 
agree to do, but promised that in future he would remain 
neutral, and confine himself strictly to preserving the peace. 
He was, in fact, finding his position of proconsul not without 
its drawbacks. The newspapers at the North — all the Demo- 
cratic press and some of the other party — ^were denouncing 
in unmeasured terms the usurpation of which he had been 
the instrument. It was not so much that the Democrats 
at the North cared deeply whether or not the Hampton 
State government per se were maintained. As long as negro 
supremacy at the South was merely to them an academic 
question, not affecting their own interests, it was one thing — 
indeed new and sensational experiments in suffrage, like 
vivisection, may be quite interesting, where one is not the 
subject operated upon — but the present was altogether an- 
other matter, one of practical importance to them, for the sus- 
tainment or destruction of the Hampton regime might have 
much to do with gaining, or losing the electoral vote and 
the Congressional representation of the State. The Grant 
administration would doubtless have hesitated long before 
adopting this "heroic treatment," if it had not been that the 



The Campaign after the Electioi?? 161 

elections were now over, and there would be no more impor- 
tant ones for nearly two years, for the lesson taught by the 
"landslide" of 1874 was not forgotten. Meantime General 
Ruger felt far from comfortable, and was asking for more 
specific instructions. He did not wish to be told merely to use 
his own discretion within the limits of the orders which he 
had received. For, if there were trouble, his actions might be 
disavowed by his superiors, and he find himself a scapegoat, 
which had happened in a measure during the Louisiana epi- 
sodes alluded to, and he was aware that he would be person- 
ally answerable to the courts for fine or imprisonment, for 
any illegal acts done outside of his military authority, as 
proved by orders in his possession. 

Relying upon General Ruger's assurance that there would 
be no further military interference with the Legislature, the 
Hampton members went to the Capitol on the morning of 
November 30 and occupied the hall of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, Wallace and Sloan, the duly elected speaker and 
clerk, taking their chairs. At the door of entrance had been 
stationed a deputy United States marshal in company with 
a negro without any official authority, but claiming to be 
sergeant-at-arms of the Mackey House, which the Supreme 
Court had decided had no existence in law. Afterward 
Mackey, with his following of the black rump parliament, 
entered the hall, and was much astonished and disgusted to 
find the real House holding its rightful position there. It 
appeared that he was not then aware of Ruger's change of 
mind. Mackey demanded the chair, but his request was, of 
course, refused. He then communicated with Mr. Chamber- 
lain, presumably to obtain troops with which to eject the 
Hampton House, but not then obtaining this aid, after a while 
drew up a chair near the speaker's desk, and called his follow- 
ers to order. It thus became a contest of endurance between 
the real House and the pretended one of which Mackey 
asserted himself to be speaker, but which had been pro- 
nounced spurious by the Supreme Court. Neither body would 
adjourn lest the other should thereby gain an advantage, and 
prepared to hold a continuous session day and night. There 
was no disturbance or anything like it. The negroes of 



162 Hampton and Reconstruction 

Mackey, in fact, seemed — child-like in simplicity as the race 
is — to think it a "huge joke," until they became very hungry, 
and much envied the lunches sent to the "buckramen," who 
good-naturedly gave them the leavings. But then, to the sur- 
prise of the "Conservatives," the mailed hand was again out- 
stretched to obstruct a legal and assist an illegal assembly. 
Kuger sent a staff officer and informed Speaker Wallace, at 
his desk, that the delegations from the counties of Edgefield 
and Laurens would not be permitted to remain in the State 
House after the hour of 12 M. of December 2. To this com- 
munication of General Ruger the following reply was at once 
sent: 

''General T. H. Ruger, Commanding U. S. Troops in South 
Carolina, 

"Dear Sir : We have just heard through Major McGinnis, 
of your Staff, your order communicated to William H. Wal- 
lace, Speaker of the House of Representatives, that at twelve 
o'clock tomorrow the members elect from Edgefield would 
not be allowed upon the floor of the House. 

"To say that we are surprised at such an order, after the 
explanations and pledges made by you to each one of us, is 
to use very mild language. When the outrage of Tuesday 
last was committed by the placing of armed sentinels at the 
door of the House of Representatives, who decided upon the 
admission of members to their seats, and when the provisions 
of the Constitution and the decision of the Supreme Court 
were brought to your attention, you distinctly and warmly 
asserted, again and again, that your orders were misunder- 
stood : that you did not intend to have sentinels at the door 
of the hall ; that you had not and did not intend to assume 
to decide upon the legality of any man's seat or upon his 
right to enter the hall. You were then reminded by us that 
your guard received instructions from one Dennis, a citizen, 
and partizan of Governor Chamberlain, to admit parties 
upon his own pass or that of one Jones, and had, through 
armed forces, excluded all Democrats from the hall until the 
Republican organization was completed. 

"You assured us again that such were not your orders, and 
were told by us that, notwithstanding the perpetration of 



The Campaign after the Election 163 

this inexpressible shame upon our free institutions, and the 
rights of the people, the evils could still be remedied without 
violence or bloodshed by a simple withdrawal of your guard 
from the doors of the hall, and that a majority of votes 
decides all questions in accordance with law and the usage 
of Legislative bodies. You stated that no troops should be 
at the door and that under no circumstances would you 
interfere, except there should occur a serious disturbance of 
the peace. You affirmed your determination to exercise no 
supervisory control whatever over the body or bodies claim- 
ing to be the House of Representatives. All this occurred on 
yesterday. Last night, in a later interview with Senator 
Gordon, you made the same assurances, and this morning, 
after both bodies were assembled in the hall, you assured 
General Hampton that under no circumstances would you 
interfere, except to keep the peace. 

"What now can justly measure our astonishment at the 
issuance of such an order as the one just sent by you? There 
is no breach of the peace, and no prospect of its disturbance. 
You had it officially brought to your notice that absolute 
good-humor prevails in this hall. We cannot refrain from 
expressing the apprehension, that the fact that a number of 
leading Republicans are taking issue with the legality of the 
proceedings of the Republican House, has changed your 
views as to your line of duty. It is proper that we should 
say in conclusion that we relied upon your honor as a man 
and your character as a soldier to maintain your pledged 
position of non-intervention. 

"The Democratic members from Edgefield and Laurens are 
entitled to their seats by the judgment of the Supreme Court 
of this State, and we have advised them to remain in the hall 
until removed by your troops, that the issue may be made in 
this centennial year of American independence whether we 
have a government of law, as construed by courts, or a cen- 
tralized despotism whose only law is force. Let the American 
people behold the spectacle of a Brigadier-General of the 
Army seated by the side of Governor Chamberlain in a room 
in the State House, and issuing his orders to a legislative 



164 Hampton and Reconstruction 

body peacefully assembled in one of the original thirteen 
commonwealths of this Union. 

Respectfully yours, 

J. B. Gordon. 
Wade Bampton. 
A. C. Haskell. 
"Columbia, S. C, November 30th, 1876." 

Of the signatures attached to the above letter, the first was 
that of United States Senator Gordon of Georgia, and the 
last of Mr. Haskell, Chairman of the Democratic State Com- 
mittee. 

On December 1 General Ruger sent a dispatch addressed to 
either General Sherman or the Secretary of War at Washing- 
ton, admitting his original "mistake," but saying nothing 
about the matter referred to in the above letter. 

The country was apprised of the true condition of affairs 
by telegrams sent not only by General Hampton but by Sen- 
ator Gordon and other well-known men, and so was the 
President. 

On November 28 Mr. Chamberlain had sent to President 
Grant a telegram stating that "the House [meaning the 
Mackey black parliament] and Senate organized today," 
having "a quorum." To say the least, this was a misleading 
statement, inasmuch as the Mackey assemblage had not a 
legal quorum, and the Supreme Court decided that it was 
not the "House." It could only be satisfactory to 

Such as do build their faith upon 
The holy text of pike and gun. 

General Ruger did not carry out his announced programme 
of seizing in the hall the representatives from the counties 
of Edgefield and Laurens, but on the night of December 3 a 
number of negroes were sent to the State House under the 
name of a State constabulary force, and the next day Mackey 
informed Mr. Wallace, the speaker, that the negroes, aided 
by troops, would at 2 P. M. proceed to clear the hall of per- 
sons obnoxious to him. The plan was not difficult to see 
through : the negroes would make the attempt and, having 
been promptly kicked out, the wished-for "violence" or 



The Campaign after the Election 165 

^'breach of peace" would be assumed established, and then 
Ruger's troops would make the attempt and, if they likewise 
were ejected, there would be a conflict with the United States 
authorities, to bring about which had been the desire of the 
Eadicals for months past. But Hampton was not to be 
caught in this way. So the regular House adjourned to the 
hall in the town which it had first occupied. 

On December 5 the two Chamberlain so-called Houses (i. e. 
the bogus House and the Senate) met in joint session, and, 
having thrown out three other counties in addition to Edge- 
field and Laurens and thus "counted-in" Mr. Chamberlain 
as Governor, proceeded to declare his election. They figured 
his majority, according to their approved method of "count- 
ing-in," at about three thousand, but it would have been as 
easy and as honest to have added another aught. It is but 
fair to say here, that Hayne, the Secretary of State (a negro), 
and member of the Board of Canvassers, had put himself on 
record as voting against the throwing out of the votes of the 
two counties, on the ground that all the evidence against 
them was purely ex parte, and no other had been admitted, 
but the other members of the board had voted unanimously 
against him. Mr. Chamberlain did not deliver an inaugural 
address in the usual form, but made a speech, intended, 
naturally enough, for the country. It is hardly fair to crit- 
icise it after all the changes of the intervening years have 
upset ideas then entertained by him. Gleaves, a mulatto, 
and not more off in color than in honesty, was "counted in" 
as Lieutenant-Governor, to succeed himself. He had been 
complained of by the Governor during the last two years for 
issuing pardons for infamous crimes during the Governor's 
frequent absences from the State, and there had been pardons 
issued for infamous crimes during Scott's regime numbering 
579, in that of Moses 457, and under Chamberlain 73, and 
how many thousands of criminals unconvicted and unprose- 
cuted no man can know. The rest of the personnel of the 
State government thus sought to be set up was in conformity 
with this, and never at the darkest hour of Reconstruction 
had there been a worse lot. Had the ship of state been really 
thus launched she would have been under the black flag, with 



166 Hampton and Reconstruction 

a pirate crew, destined on a cruise of unparalleled crime on 
the political seas. 

As Mr. Chamberlain never succeeded in getting nearer to 
being Governor from the election of 1876 than at this junc- 
ture, we can best examine his credentials here. 

To begin with, he was not a de facto Governor at all. This 
he himself asseverates again and again, in daily and hourly 
telegrams and letters to Washington and to the country. He 
leaves no doubt upon the subject, saying, what was perfectly 
true, that he and his so-called State officers and Legislature 
were powerless to perform a single function of government, 
and unable even to remain in the Capitol unless maintained 
there by United States troops. That settles the de facto 
question, the most important, by far, of all. 

He was not de jure Governor, because his title was founded 
entirely upon the fraud committed by the Board of Can- 
vassers, and, as he was at that time Governor, and they a part 
of his administration, their aid was quasi his own act, and 
it is an elementary principle of law that no man can take 
advantage of his own wrongful act. Besides this — and many 
other disqualifying circumstances — the counting of the votes 
for Governor was not legally done, because the Mackey black 
parliament had been declared by the courts not to be the 
House of Representatives and therefore incompetent to act 
in joint session with the Senate, as was required by law. 
Moreover, even with the Mackey crew, the joint session did 
not have a majority of the members elected to the two houses. 
Still more important, on the merits, disregarding technicali- 
ties and artificial legal niceties and sophistry, he had only a 
minority of the votes fairly polled at the booths and fairly 
counted, and even this minority consisted only of the votes 
of ignorant or corrupt negroes and "carpet-baggers," the 
mere receiving of which was a shame and degradation to the 
very principle of suffrage. Under such circumstances it is 
hardly supposable that the Washington administration 
would have endeavored to maintain him, if it had not been 
for the prize of the electoral vote. It could not abandon him 
without weakening its position, until that point was settled, 



The Campaign after the Election 167 

and then, as we all know, it promptly did leave him in the 
lurch. 

As for the Hampton party, it had a valid House of Rep- 
resentatives as confirmed by the Supreme Court, with a 
majority on joint ballot with the Senate, but it had not by the 
returns a majority in the Senate. As the Radical members 
of the Senate refused to join with them in joint session, the 
Hampton members found it thus rendered impossible to 
count the votes for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor in the 
regular way. They consequently did the only thing possible 
and proper to do, for the State could not be left in the position 
of having an executive who had been fairly elected by the 
people, not inaugurated merely because the majority of the 
Senate would not act. So the House, the regular one, met in 
joint session with the Democratic members of the Senate, 
thus having a majority of all the members of both houses, 
and counted the votes, declaring General Hampton Governor, 
and Mr. Simpson Lieutenant-Governor. This sufficiently 
explains the purely technical grounds of General Hampton's 
title. 

But on the merits his title was perfect. He had received 
the highest number of votes of the people according to the 
returns, having a majority of over twelve hundred, and had 
also received the majority of votes fairly cast and fairly 
counted. Moreover, this majority represented the suffrages 
of the entire respectable, educated, tax-paying, substantial 
part of the community, the brains, morals, and muscle. His 
de facto right was perfect throughout the State, with the 
single exception of the space in square feet actually occupied 
by United States troops. A de facto title is the foundation 
of all government, which cannot be regarded as a government 
at all without it, and, with permanence and order main- 
tained, becomes a perfect title, even if in its origin totally 
without de jure claim. 

On December 12 President Grant sent six hundred more 
troops to Columbia. Secretary Fish was reported as oppos- 
ing all the troop-sending programme, and threatening to 
resign from the cabinet. 



168 Hampton and Eeconstruction 



CHAPTER SEVENTH 

Inauguration of Governor Hampton^ and Beginning of 
His Administration 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

— Tennyson. 

On December 14 General Hampton was inaugurated Gov- 
ernor, and Mr. Simpson Lieutenant-Governor. The ceremony 
was performed in front of the hall in which the representa- 
tives of the people had been assembling since they were driven 
from the Capitol by duress of troops, as already related. The 
Conservatives had by this time a legal majority exclusive 
of the members from Edgefield and Laurens Counties, as a 
number had come to them from the Mackey rump parlia- 
ment. Unbounded enthusiasm prevailed and perfect good 
order. Indeed the feeling, intense and ardent though it 
was, took more the form of a devout "thank God!" than of 
noisy demonstrations in the streets, and from church and 
chamber thanksgivings were mingled with prayers for the 
future of their own government, now their very own, and 
Hampton, their very own. But good, honest jollity was there 
also ; cannon boomed, fired by all the clubs, and rockets went 
up, and rousing cheers. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny, 
crisp day, such as can be had only at the South at that season 
of the year, and the very earth and sky seemed to sympathize 
with and participate in the general rejoicing. In the street, 
before an immense concourse of people, a good part of whom 
were women, young and old, of the highest standing, the 
Governor delivered his inaugural address. His fine presence 
and commanding appearance, and clear, calm, gentle voice 
attracted all eyes and ears in the vast throng. After picturing 
in eloquent words — every one of which found a response in 
each of his hearers' hearts — the deplorable conditions under 
which — as all knew but too well — their State had been suffer- 
ing for ten years, and the mighty struggle which they had 
just made to rescue civilization, and condemning in language 



Inauguration and Administration 169 

fitting the deed the usurpation attempted through the bayo- 
nets of troops to defeat a people's lawfully expressed will, he 
concluded in these words : 

"A great task is before the Conservative party of this State. 
They entered on this contest with a platform so broad, so 
strong, so liberal, that every honest citizen could stand upon 
it. They recognized and accepted the amendments of the 
Constitution in good faith. They pledged themselves to work 
reform and establish good government. They promised to 
keep up an efficient system of public education, and they 
declared solemnly, that all citizens of South Carolina, of both 
races and both parties, should be regarded as equals in the 
eyes of the law — all to be fully protected in the enjoyment 
of every political right now possessed by them. To the faith- 
ful observance of these pledges w^e stand committed, and I, 
as the representative of the Conservative party, hold myself 
bound by every dictate of honor and good faith to use every 
effort to have these pledges redeemed fully and honestly. 
It is due not only to ourselves, but to the colored people of 
the State, that wise, just, and liberal measures should prevail 
in our legislation. We owe much of our late success to those 
colored voters, who were brave enough to rise above the 
prejudice of race and honest enough to throw off the shackles 
of party in their determination to save the State. To those 
who, misled by their fears, their ignorance, or by evil coun- 
selors, turned a deaf ear to our appeals, we should not be 
vindictive, but magnanimous. Let us show to all of them 
that the true interests of both races can best be secured by 
cultivating peace and promoting prosperity among all classes 
of our fellow-citizens. 

"I rely confidently on the support of the members of the 
General Assembly in my efforts to attain these laudable ends, 
and I trust that all branches of the government will unite 
cordially in this patriotic work. If so united and working 
with resolute will and earnest determination, we may hope 
soon to see the dawn of a brighter day for our State. God 
in His infinite mercy, grant that it may come speedily, and 
may He shower the richest blessings of peace and happiness 
on our whole people." 



170 Hampton and Reconstruction 

The Governor then took the oath of office administered by 
a judge of the Circuit Court. 

And then the welkin rang with the shouts of thousands. 
Men and women almost tumbled over one another to get a 
hand-shake of their chief. They grasped one another's hands 
again and again in a spirit of comradeship, which had been a 
marked feature of the campaign from its inception ; all were 
"red shirts" in enthusiasm — fellow-soldiers all. At length 
they could no longer restrain themselves. Hampton was 
induced to seat himself in a large armchair, and "most 
potent, grave and reverend signiors," like boys once more, 
caught it up on their shoulders and marched with him thus 
enthroned through the streets to his hotel, accompanied by 
the tramp of thousands of feet, and the mad cheers of men, 
the air vibrating with the music of women's voices mingled 
with the roar of artillery and the ringing of church bells. 

What a different spectacle was witnessed at the Capitol 
on December 5, when the contestants for the position of Gov- 
ernor went through the form of inauguration. The hall was 
strictly guarded, the public carefully excluded, and there, 
amid the black faces of the "rump parliament," with a 
sprinkling of the palid, anxious countenances of "carpet- 
baggers," the solemn farce w^as quietly enacted surrepti- 
tiously. It resembled a funeral. It was a funeral: the 
funeral of negro rule, crime, and humbug. A correspondent 
of a Northern newspaper, who was there, tells how he shud- 
dered at the sight of twenty-five rifles stacked by the door 
of the Governor's private room, and how sentinels paced the 
corridors and passageways. 

The inaugural of Governor Hampton was very well re- 
ceived throughout the country; with acclamations by the 
Democratic newspapers, and with marked approval by all 
independent journals, and was hardly less commended by 
the Eepublican papers not the actual organs of the adminis- 
tration, and even these latter emitted very faint and quali- 
fied grumbles. The Springfield Repuhlican said that "either 
Hampton or Ruger was Governor, for Chamberlain certainly 
was not." Indeed it was a spectacle to chain the attention, 
and fire the heart and imagination of an Anglo-Saxon people 



Inauguration and Administration 171 

wherever they might live, to see this one man, erect in the 
majesty of a people's universally acclaimed leader, calm, 
confident in the justice of his cause, confronting the whole 
power of the local Eadicals and the Executive at Washing- 
ton backed by an unwilling army. 

As Lieutenant-Governor Simpson was now inaugurated, 
it became practicable to organize the Senate, which had not 
before this been feasible by law. The prescribed practice 
under the law was for the Lieutenant-Governor to organize 
the Senate, and if there were vacancies, to issue writs of elec- 
tion to fill them. 

On December 19, with a legal quorum, at a joint session of 
both houses, M. C. Butler, formerly a very brilliant Major- 
General of Cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, was 
elected United States Senator for the term beginning March 
4, 1877. He was destined to serve for two terms with dis- 
tinguished success and usefulness to his State. 

After his inauguration. General Hampton requested Mr. 
Chamberlain, his predecessor in the office, to deliver to him 
the great seal of the State, and other appurtenances, but this 
was declined. 

At this juncture a Bill (in form) was introduced in 
Mackey's "black parliament" the purpose of which was to 
proceed against General Hampton and others for treason, 
and under its provisions to arrest them. Nothing came of it. 
Probably it was only an attempt to "intimidate" on the part 
of Mackey, who, to do him justice, was the only one of those 
"statesmen" who possessed courageous energy. The attempt 
to enforce such a so-called Act would, of course, have been 
ridiculous, and likely to have resulted in the consignment of 
the authors to prison. 

The notorious Whittemore, who had been expelled from 
Congress because convicted of making a trade of bribe-receiv- 
ing for naval cadetships, was one of the "high-lights" of the 
Senate, chairman of principal committees, and all that. At 
this time, it appears, there were some bills of the Bank of the 
State, which should have been canceled. He recommended 
that in this instance (note that he was not a member of this 
committee for cancelation) they be canceled with a stamp, 



172 Hampton and Reconstruction 

which would cut through the bills, before they were delivered 
to the committee, because, as he said, in the last case of the 
kind the bills had been canceled with a stamp which ad- 
mitted of being rubbed out, and that the bills had been 
treated in that way and used by "some one." This sugges- 
tion was received without surprise by the members of the 
present, and previous, committee, who were among the 
audience, not the slightest exception being taken to the 
charge that the last committee had stolen the bills, and that 
the present one would, if they had the chance, do the same 
thing, as a matter of course. Every one knew that they would 
do so, and why needlessly take the trouble to affect surprise 
or an appearance of offense? There were hundreds of far 
worse crimes committed, though stealing money held in a 
fiduciary capacity is more base than burglary ; but the writer 
quotes this case as illustrating fairly well the moral color- 
blindness, the utter absence of anything serving in the place 
of a conscience, the bottomless turpitude of persons who had 
not the faintest conception that a shameless thief is some- 
thing outside of the pale. It is almost inconceivable to people 
imbued with normal ethics. And yet here was an ordinary, 
every-day occurence. 

There was, about this time, a case of real practical "in- 
timidation." Some gentlemen residing in Columbia selected 
a bright, moonlight night for a fox-chase to take place not 
far from the town limits. The fox usually commences his 
supper-calls before dark in the afternoon and, if successful 
in obtaining satisfactory hospitality, lies up long before 
dawn of day, so that the earlier in the evening one starts on 
the hunt the easier it generally is to strike a trail. On this 
occasion a fine fox was soon trailed and jumped and made in 
the direction of the town, followed by a large pack of hounds 
in full cry, and men galloping after them yelling the hunting- 
cry, which, it must be confessed, much resembles the old 
Confederate battle-yell, which was derived from it. "States- 
men" awoke, and trembled in their beds. They had been for 
long bawling in fun to President Grant, "Wolf ! Wolf !" and 
now here sure enough was true "wolf." Some of them, as it 
was credibly reported in the newspapers, incontinently fled 



Inauguration and Administration 173 

in their night-shirts (it was before the era of pajamas) to the 
Capitol, seeking safety there with the "troops." It is cer- 
tainly and soberly true that great consternation was pro- 
duced among them, and intense indignation, when they 
discovered that they had made themselves the victims of a 
joke. This w^as "domestic violence" of the genuine brand, 
no "telepathic" sort about it. But inasmuch as they had been 
for so long wearing out the wires to the North asseverating 
that their presence at the South was purely from altruistic 
motives, an unselfish sacrifice for their fellow (colored) men, 
it is a wonder that they did not welcome this apparent chance 
for martyrdom in the good cause. 

This reminds me, as Mr. Lincoln would say, of another inci- 
dent illustrating how "conscience does make cowards of us 
all." There was a kind, good-hearted old gentleman in 
Charleston, who had never killed anything larger than a 
mosquito. But he would become almost always excited in 
conversing about any subject which interested him, and as he 
would warm up it was his habit suddenly to thrust hand in 
pocket, and seize his handkerchief with which to wipe his 
face. He was talking one day with a "carpet-bagger," and 
becoming heated, mentally and physically, as usual, dove into 
his pocket for a handkerchief, perceiving which the valiant 
"carpet-bagger" waited to see no more, but broke in a run for 
"troops," or some other sanctuary, thinking that a pistol was 
being drawn upon him. 

One of these "statesmen" — Tim Hurley — used to say that 
he never saw a lamp-post but his neck commenced to hurt 
him. He is probably about the only "carpet-bagger" who, 
departing with the others, "as the swallows homeward fly," 
in the following April, left behind him anything of value to 
the community; he left some fair jokes. Among others, he 
told one of his colleagues, a dull fellow, that, as fish was 
brain food, he had better buy a whole whale and eat it all by 
himself. In early January, 1877, he was presented by the 
grand jury of Charleston County for corruption, fraud, and 
oflflcial misconduct as County Treasurer, and ejected on Feb- 
ruary 2. He was one of the Hayes Electors. 

Immediately after his inauguration, Hampton set about 



174 Hampton and Reconstruction 

putting in order the county offices throughout the State, so 
that business could get back into its normal channels. He 
sent circulars to reliable, substantial citizens in the different 
counties, asking them to name suitable persons for trial jus- 
tices and other positions, if the offices were vacant or occu- 
pied by corrupt or incompetent incumbents. When the 
Legislature had first convened, legal steps had been taken 
to enjoin the banks, which were State depositories, from 
paying out any funds on checks or vouchers from any of the 
Radical State officers. When inaugurated, Hampton served 
similar official notice upon them, but the banks were ready 
to honor his official drafts, so that necessary funds were 
thus made available. On December 22 a mass meeting was 
held in Charleston, at which practically the names of all 
those well-known in business and social circles figured, as 
vice-presidents, and here by a unanimous vote the members 
were pledged — and their action virtually bound the entire 
community — to sustain the Hampton government in all its 
branches, as the only State government. This necessarily 
implied the pledge to pay taxes to that government, and to 
pay assessments to none other asserting itself to be a State 
government. The chairman, by instructions of the meeting, 
sent the following telegram to Governor Hampton : 

"The citizens of Charleston, in mass-meeting assembled, 
send you greeting, and pledge your government their obedi- 
ence and support to the fullest extent, and denounce D. H. 
Chamberlain as a usurper and a traitor to the State and her 
laws." 

This action was followed throughout the State. By early 
January the Governor was able to appoint receivers generally 
for the taxes to be voluntarily paid, which were made as 
moderate as circumstances warranted but were sufficient 
for all purposes, and the collecting went on regularly and 
smoothly. Meantime, a bank in Charleston, as well as those 
in Columbia, advanced all needed funds. This proved to 
be a killing blow for Mr. Chamberlain's bogus government. 
It could raise no money. Its credit was gone. Its bonds 
would not have sold higher than waste paper, and evil- 
odored waste paper at that. Kimpton paid it a visit, but 



Inauguration and Administration 175 

to no avail. He it was who had been its financial Napo- 
leon in the times which United States Senator Patterson 
had characterized as "years of good stealing in South Car- 
olina," but those halcyon days were gone, never to return. 
Even the Superintendent of the Penitentiary refused to 
recognize the contesting Governor's pardons, and that had 
been a fertile source of revenue in the good old days. As 
the "statesmen" were there "for what there was in it," gloom 
pervaded now every face, white as well as "black and tan." 
The contestant for the office of Governor was placed in the 
position of "the penniless traveler," who "can sing in the 
presence of robbers," as Horace has it ; that is to say, he was 
"penniless," and there were the "robbers" sure enough, but 
he found it doubtless no occasion for careless singing. As 
for the negroes and mulattoes composing the so-called legisla- 
ture, they were even in a worse plight. Accustomed for the 
last decade to regard a legislative session as a grand frolic 
from first to last, free liquor and cigars, oysters and pates 
galore at the expense of the State, and fun voting taxes to be 
got exclusively from white people, and their "sal'ry" paid 
in advance. But now starvation stared them in the face 
since the Democratic hen-roost was debarred them; nothing 
to eat but what they could steal from one another, and, what 
was far worse, no whiskey to drink, where oceans had been 
wont to flow. "Dis ent no freedom," they could be heard 
groaning. Christmas-time was at hand, too, and a darkey 
with an empty stomach at such a season is indeed a pathetic 
sight. They might even be reduced to doing a little, just a 
very little, honest work for the "buckra." 

No doubt some of the leaders had funds — probably not 
within the State, for prudence is always advisable — but their 
confidence in getting back anything loaned to the "govern- 
ment" was rudely shaken, and they themselves required 
always cash in hand to purchase suddenly a railway ticket 
North, if it became more "squally," for recognized courts of 
justice performing their functions were an abomination to 
them. Friends at the North, who had sent them funds 
freely enough during the campaign, now were inclined to 
close their purses, or contribute very sparingly, for the 



176 Hampton and Reconstruction 

electoral vote could now be not much affected by anything 
further that the}^ could do, and had to be fought out else- 
where. If the Radical contesting State government would 
keep up a feeble showing until March, that was all which 
was required of them. At length, however, a limited amount 
was borrowed from some one more altruistic than the rest, 
and a little was doled out for most pressing needs, but the 
poor negroes got nothing for their Christmas dinners. 
Dennis, now breveted by common consent by his friends as 
"General" for distinguished services performed under Ruger, 
as related, laid claim to several hundred dollars. At length, 
with heavy hearts and empty stomachs, and an awful thirst, 
these legislators adjourned on December 23 sine die, forever, 
for "we shall not look upon their like again." Certainly they 
went "down tQ the base earth" "unhonored and unsung," but 
not, alas, "unwept" in one sense, for the havoc which they 
and their predecessors wrought will be the source of distress 
for years and years to come. 

The Hampton Houses adjourned sine die on December 22, 
having now assisted in putting the ship in trim and left the 
Governor on the bridge, w^here he stood night and day. 
Imperturbable coolness, and nerve; quick conception and 
rapid execution; wonderful detection and measure of his 
opponents' plans, and quick frustration of them ; untiring 
faith and confidence of ultimate success; almost sublime 
self-respect, proof of the most exalted courage, which enables 
a man without sense of humiliation, to submit to indignities 
when his nature yearns to resist; all these qualifications for 
their leader his people well knew he possessed. But the 
intuitive wisdom with Avhich he was gifted, which enabled 
him, as if by instinct, in a moment, to arrive at a conclusion 
obscured to others in greatest doubt, and yet always to prove 
in the end right, and the quick grasp of intricate legal points ; 
the accomplished diplomatic ability, which never erred; 
these, I have been informed by those nearest to him in con- 
fidential transactions during this exciting period, often filled 
them with profound astonishment and admiration. It was 
as if supreme occasions with him brought to the surface 
reserve power for the emergency, those occult, mysterious. 



Inauguration and Administration 177 

psychic forces, which rise for the moment above mere mental 
ratiocination, and which the man himself cannot explain or 
comprehend. 

On December 22 the New England Society of Charleston 
had its annual dinner. The old Puritans of "Mayflower" 
fame might perhaps not have approved altogether of the 
good cheer, the viands and wine, but the dinner had become 
a custom. There being not as numerous descendants of these 
worthy men in Charleston as in some other localities, it is 
usual to bid to the feast a good many French Huguenots, and 
even godless Cavaliers. General Hampton was invited on 
this occasion in a very appreciative and complimentary tele- 
gram, but could not leave the helm to come, as he would have 
liked to do. Of course, there were many speeches all about 
or touching on the absorbing topic of the times, and all en- 
thusiastic in devotion to Hampton. 

The old year went out, and the new year came in with 
all the excitement in the State and country that anyone 
could desire. Perhaps it may have been deemed a favorable 
omen for honest government everywhere that Mr. Tweed, 
who in South Carolina had so many disciples putting to 
shame their master, should have been got in limbo a little 
before this time and some of his fellow "statesmen" were 
being proceeded against. It was encouraging at least. 

Many were the speculations as to what Mr. Ferry, Presi- 
dent of the United States Senate, would do; how he would 
construe his powers in the opening of the electoral votes. 
Had it been then known, that he had conscientiously refused 
to serve his party in the way that they desired, there would 
probably have been no Electoral Commission. He had an 
interview with the President on the last day of the year, and 
it is supposed it was then that he confidentially announced 
his decision. 

At this time, too, was forwarded to Congress through Sen- 
ator Gordon, of Georgia, a memorial signed by General 
Hampton and Messrs. Simpson and Wallace ancl sixty-five 
members of the House and thirteen of the Senate. It laid 
before the United States Congress the facts of the situation, 
the legality and correctness of the election, going into details 



178 Hampton and Reconstruction 

to show clearly how the law had been conformed to, and 
ending thus : "Wherefore your petitioners, unable to assert 
their rights in the premises," pray Congress, "to cause ces- 
sation of the unwarranted interference of the military author- 
ities and the United States troops in the affairs of this State." 

Hampton had written a letter, identically the same in 
tenor to Mr. Hayes as to Mr. Tilden, so that whichever was 
eventually declared elected would be accurately informed of 
the legality and rights of the "Conservative" government. 

The United States House of Representatives early in De- 
cember had sent a committee to investigate and report upon 
the election in South Carolina, and now the Senate also had 
one in session in Columbia consisting of two Republicans and 
one Democrat. Mr. Corbin, the United States District Attor- 
ney, was very active in presenting the evidence of irresponsi- 
ble negroes. It was currently reported and believed that 
the price for affidavits was "a dollar fifty for one, or eighteen 
dollars a dozen." If there was an incident of "freedom" 
which was "a thing of beauty" and "a joy forever" to negroes, 
it was the acting as witnesses and jurors, and an idle herd 
of them was always in waiting around court-houses for this 
purpose. The committee had with it two professional news- 
paper correspondents, who for the time being gave up their 
regular engagement for employment by the committee, but 
in fact busied themselves sending telegrams where they 
"would do the most good." When testifying before this com- 
mittee, Mr. Chamberlain, under cross-examination by the 
Democratic member, admitted that of |511,000 worth of arms 
and ammunition purchased, and paid for by the State, only 
one hundred and twenty-five rifles could be accounted for. 
He admitted that when at the North in the preceding Septem- 
ber he had had a consultation with President Grant, Secre- 
tary of War Cameron, and other Republican leaders in regard 
to introducing troops into the State; also, that he had never 
called upon the white population to assist in preserving 
the peace; that he made no attempt to arrest anyone con- 
cerned in the Hamburg and Ellenton riots; that the sheriff 
of Aiken County had testified that he, unassisted, could 
execute warrants, and that no resistance whatever had been 



Inauguration and Administration 179 

made by the whites to the due process of law; also, that 
every judge in the State, except one, had denied the allega- 
tions of his proclamations relative to disorder. 

The way of the transgressor began to show signs of being 
hard, for about the middle of January the Grand Jury of 
Charleston County made presentments against nearly a score 
of County officials for fraud and corruption, and at the same 
period influential Republicans in some of the upper Counties 
declared they would pay no taxes to the Chamberlain 
dynasty, and urged their fellow Republicans to act in the 
same way. 

During the early part of January an anonymous letter 
appeared in an Augusta, Ga., newspaper, purporting to give 
"a leaf of history." It said in effect, that the Hampton party 
in the election had virtually thrown overboard, by a quiet 
"deal," the Tilden ticket, and that this accounted for the 
State ticket receiving more votes than the electoral. The 
reason in fact was that many Republicans could not stomach 
the Radical State ticket and voted for Hampton, while poll- 
ing their ballots for Hayes and Wheeler. An imputation of 
this kind, involving treachery, and so contrary to truth, and 
at variance with General Hampton's well-known nature, 
would require in ordinary times no notice, but be treated 
with silent contempt. But at that period excitement was 
running so high throughout the country, and falsehoods were 
so plentiful, that this one was definitely contradicted and 
set at rest forever. General Hampton said : 

"The writer has fallen into many and grave errors. I had 
no agency whatever in Judge Mackey's visit to Ohio, and he 
bore no proposition. No message came from me. He says so 
himself. A proposition was made to withdraw our electors, 
and the Democratic Executive Committee knew that I took 
strong ground against it. A subsequent proposition was 
made on the same subject, and this I also declined. . 
Whether the canvass was a mistake or not, is not for me to 
say, but I do say that I supported Tilden thoroughly and 
heartily throughout. The Democratic Electors can speak on 
this point, and especially General McGowan, who is referred 
to, and who will, I hope, answer for himself. The 'leaf of 



180 Hampton and Reconstruction 

history' has been so secret, that no one in the State knows 
anything about it, and it is as utterly unreliable as 'history,' 
as it is 'secret'." 

In a letter from A. C. Haskell, Chairman of the State 
Democratic Committee, dated January 16, more liglit is 
thrown on this matter. He says, in substance, that when the 
campaign was first inaugurated in South Carolina by the 
nomination of Hampton, the movement met scant sym- 
pathy — or none — from the headquarters of Mr. Hewitt and 
presumably from Mr. Til den. It was more than hinted that 
it would have an unfavorable effect on the Presidential con- 
test, and assistance was refused on the ground that it should 
be reserved for the doubtful States. To this it was replied 
by the State committeemen that the withholding of help to 
be applied to the doubtful States was satisfactory, but that, 
all the same, the canvass would be vigorously pressed in 
South Carolina on their own resources. The letter says: 
"Hampton made earnest, brave efforts for the Tilden ticket. 
It is utterly untrue, that he did otherwise. ... On the 
night after the day of Chamberlain's nomination, Judge 
Cooke and Judge Mackey called at Democratic headquarters 
at Columbia, General Hampton being absent at Abbeville, 
and declared their intention to join. They had been sup- 
porters of Mr. Chamberlain, but repudiated him now. They 
did urge the abandonment of the national contest. They sub- 
mitted that it would not injure the Democracy, stating that 
we were regarded as an embarassment rather than a benefit 
to the party (we had heard the same from other sources). 
Mackey stated that the plan of the Radical leaders was to 
be passive for a time, allege that they were restrained from 
canvassing from fear of violence; meantime to excite riot, 
and violence among the colored race, cause bloodshed, and 
thus invoke military interference. He expressed his con- 
viction, that such was the State and National plan, and 
events have proved the correctness of this. Judge Cooke 
confirmed the views above stated, stating he knew of contem- 
plated riot and bloodshedding from conversations with lead- 
ing Republicans with whom he was allied up to that time. 
It was resolved to do nothing until after consulting the 



Inauguration and Administration 181 

National Executive Committee. This was communicated to 
General Hampton, and he decided that nothing be done 
unless Mr. Tilden signified that he wanted it done for his 
own sake, the withdrawal then to be under protest stating 
plot as laid down by Judges Mackay and Cooke, announcing 
withdrawal because of intervention of military force to 
rob us of the right to vote. General Hampton wrote to Mr. 
Tilden through Mr. Manton Marble, and I to Mr. Hewitt. 
Before any answers were received, Hampton decided it was 
not wise, or proper. Tilden and Hewitt assured us that 
we were not an embarrassment but an aid to the National 
cause, and it was never again thought of. . . . Alone 
our victory would have been a plaything, but together with 
the National Democracy, we bore the brunt of the force of 
the administration — State and National — canvassed under 
the watchful eyes of the professional detectives, who were 
backed by bristling bayonets ; voted over the bayonet's point ; 
we won from the enemy 15,000 to 17,000 votes and carried 
the State for Tilden, as well as Hampton. If there has been 
a champion for Tilden, it has been Hampton." 

The following is the material portion of Hampton's letter 
to Tilden through Marble : 

"There is no doubt of it [the election] being carried for 
our State ticket, for our opponents would gladly agree to let 
us elect our men, if we withdrew from the Presidential con- 
test. Of course we are most anxious to aid in the general 
election, but you can understand our solicitude as to how we 
can best do this. If our alliance is a load, we will unload. 
If our friends desire us to carry on the contest, as begun, 
we shall do so." 

To this Marble wired Haskell : 

"It is agreed here that your friend's persistence and his 
present efforts and plans are wise and advantageous." 

I do not like to refer to personal incidents — it seems ego- 
tistical ; but generalities are not so convincing as the relation 
of things within one's personal knowledge. And I am still 
hearing from time to time of the debt of gratitude due from 
the people of this State and section for substantial assistance 
rendered to them from the outside in the campaign of 1876. 



182 Hampton and Reconstruction 

Does this look like it? Or does it savor of treason to Tilden? 
A very few days before the election — on the Thursday or 
Friday, I think, before the momentous Tuesday — F. W. Daw- 
son, editor of the Charleston News and Courier, and at that 
time a member of the Democratic National Executive Com- 
mittee, came to my office and showed me a telegram just 
received by him — in cipher, if I remember aright — from head- 
quarters, stating that it was absolutely necessary to raise 
more money for presidential election expenses at the North, 
and that |5,000 had been apportioned to Charleston to raise. 
I gave him a check from my firm for |100, which was all that 
we could afford at the time, being very far indeed from multi- 
millionaires, and having already spent over |1,000 for the 
cause — chiefly for arms and ammunition — and knowing well 
that we should have to expend more. The $5,000 were raised 
and sent. 

On January 18 the joint committee of the House and 
Senate of the United States made their report suggesting an 
Electoral Bill, which was generally received with satisfaction 
in Congress and by the country. Messrs. Morton, Cameron, 
and Sherman opposed it vigorously. It passed the Senate on 
January 25, and the House a day after. On March 2 Hayes 
was declared elected. Meantime matters remained unsettled 
in South Carolina, as far as Federal interference was con- 
cerned, but were becoming daily more normal as to local 
government. In the latter part of January the city of Green- 
ville, through a public meeting, denounced Chamberlain "for 
attempting to trample on the liberties of the people," and 
pronouncing the Tax Bill of his Legislature "null and void," 
and pledging the County to pay the Hampton taxes, and 
none other. Republicans in the upper counties also refused 
to pay the Chamberlain taxes. 

A case was got up for the Supreme Court to obtain a de- 
cision as to the legality of Hampton's title. A convict was 
pardoned by Hampton, and then the Superintendent of the 
Penitentiary refused to recognize the pardon, and the case 
went to the Supremo Court on habeas corpus. Before it was 
decided, Chief Justice Moses became ill, and did not recover, 
but eventually died. During his illness the remaining judges 



Inauguration and Administration 183 

were Mr. Willard and the negro Wright. Unless they agreed, 
no decision could be arrived at. Wright was receiving his 
salary monthly from the Hampton government, the Cham- 
berlain "dynasty" having no funds to pay to anybody, and 
being very much put to it, and obliged to make private loans 
to keep their heads above water. So it was Wright's interest 
to continue to receive his pay. Moreover he was — among 
other things — a great gambler, and his friends, the "states- 
men," could beat the "heathen Chinee" in holding aces, so 
that he nearly always lost, and had nothing to fall back upon. 
But his friends "wined him and dined him" incessantly at 
this period, to keep him from agreeing with Mr. Willard. 
His "church sisters" brought him more and more liquor, and 
prayed and wept over him incessantly. At length he got 
what they termed the "delirious freemens," and was laid up 
for a fortnight. However, before succumbing to this mys- 
terious malady, he signed an order in connection with Judge 
Willard releasing the convict, thus adjudicating Hampton 
Governor. Before doing so, he stipulated that the order 
should not be filed for two days, "because," he said, "it will 
seriously endanger my personal safety, if not my life, at the 
hands of persons of my own race and party." He came to 
Hampton and informed him that he feared that he would 
be driven out of the State by persons of his own color, but 
the General told him not to be at all alarmed, and that, if he 
should be "driven out," he would go along with him. After- 
ward he wished to withdraw his signature, but it was too 
late, and so this profound jurist went on another spree, dis- 
appearing altogether for a fortnight. The Hampton govern- 
ment w^as now recognized by all the Circuit Judges, and 
affairs began to become normal in the courts. 

Commissions were issued to militia officers, and a consid- 
erable force thus organized from the rifle clubs, and they 
were a very much better class of troops than ordinary militia. 

Everywhere patiently working untiringly day and night, 
Hampton was gaining, Chamberlain weakening. Even Presi- 
dent Grant said, if Chamberlain could not collect taxes and 
sustain himself, he could not be maintained by the whole 
army of the United States. 



184 Hampton and Reconstruction 

Before the select committee at Washington considering 
the President's message in regard to the use of troops in 
the Southern States at the elections, called for by previous 
action of the House, A. C. Haskell testified that there was no 
insurrection, or threatened disturbance in South Carolina 
before, or after the late election calling for the interposition 
of troops. He saw Federal soldiers on guard at the State 
House inspecting the certificates of the members of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. The officers of the army took their instruc- 
tions from and acted under orders of O. A. Jones, private 
secretary for Chamberlain. The Legislature was organized 
by United States soldiers in the interest of Chamberlain. 

Mr. Robertson, one of the Republican United States Sen- 
ators from South Carolina, said in the Senate, speaking on a 
resolution introduced by General Gordon, of Georgia, to 
recognize Hampton as Governor, that there had been no 
intimidation by whites on election day, and very little during 
the campaign, but that there was great and incessant intimi- 
dation by Radical negroes of other negroes, and also that 
there were very many more fraudulent votes cast by the 
Republicans than by the Democrats. He cited details show- 
ing some 3,000 bogus Chamberlain votes polled in Beaufort 
County, a negro stronghold. He favored the recognition of 
Hampton as inevitable and in the interests of peace and 
order. 

Even The National Repiiblican (extreme Radical organ) 
came out in the latter part of February for fraternity, "bury- 
ing the hatchet," and "letting the South alone." 

On February 20 a thing occurred which had much better 
not have occurred. The Hampton militia were arranging to 
parade in Columbia and Charleston on Febraury 22, Wash- 
ington's Birthday. The personnel was the same as that of 
the former rifle clubs. Lieutenant-Colonel Black, Eighteenth 
Infantry, stationed at Columbia, in the Capitol, sent to the 
Hampton authorities the following communication — very 
reluctantly sent it — quoting the Secretary of War's exact 
words : 

"His Excellency, the President of the United States, 
directs me to notify you, that the members of the so-called 



Inauguration and Administration 185 

rifle clubs, who under his proclamation of 17th October last 
were instructed to disband, are not to make any public 
demonstration, or parade, on 22nd instant, as is said to be 
contemplated." He added, "My orders require me to see that 
no such parade takes place." 

When this was received, a messenger was on the way from 
Hampton to invite Black's Regiment to lead in the parade, 
and this much embarrassed the latter, who was an unwilling 
instrument. 

Governor Hampton on this issued the following proclama- 
tion: 

"Executive Chamber, 

"Columbia, S. C, Feb. 20, 1877. 

"His Excellency, the President of the United States, hav- 
ing ordered that the white militia companies of the State 
shall not parade on 22nd instant to celebrate Washington's 
Birthday; in deference to the office he holds, I hereby call 
upon these organizations to postpone to some future day 
this manifestation of their respect to the memory of that 
illustrious President whose highest ambition it was, as it was 
his chief glory, to observe the Constitution, and to obey the 
laws of his country. If the arbitrary commands of a Chief 
Magistrate, who has not sought to emulate the virtues of 
Washington, deprives the citizens of the State of the privi- 
lege of joining publicly in paying reverence to that day so 
sacred to every American patriot, we can at least show by 
our obedience to constituted authority, however arbitrarily 
exercised, that we are not unworthy to be the countrymen of 
Washington. We must, therefore, remit to some more auspi- 
cious period, which, I trust, is not far distant, the exercise of 
our right to commemorate the civic virtues of that unsullied 
character, who wielded his sword only to found, and perpet- 
uate, that American Constitutional liberty which is now 
denied to the citizens of South Carolina. 

"Wade Hampton^ Governor." 

The action of the President was received with an almost 
universal condemnation from the journals of both parties at 
the North, and Hampton's proclamation was approved with- 
out dissent. It was pointed out that the President had no 



186 Hampton and Reconstruction 

more lawful power to prohibit a Washington Birthday 
parade in Columbia and Charleston, than to do the same 
thing in New York or Boston. It was noted, too, that the 
negro militia had not been forbidden to parade until after- 
ward. There Avere many heated comments by members of 
both parties at the North. One Northern newspaper asked : 
"What is the reason for this barrack-room order in time of 
peace? Is it because Washington was a Southerner? Is it 
sought to treat his memory with disrespect because he always 
acted strictly within the law? Are we to be ordered not to 
celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln because he, too, 
was of Southern birth, and a respecter of law and liberty?" 
In fact special significance was attached to the incident — it 
makes so much difference whose ox is gored. Intense excite- 
ment was prevailing all over the country, attention being 
absorbed by the Electoral Commission now in session, and 
every hour, almost every minute, was bringing important 
reports, sometimes true, as often false. Morton (Thaddeus 
Stevens's old running-mate) and his party had bitterly op- 
posed the passage of the Electoral Bill, and their threats were 
now audible of non-submission to its findings, if unfavorable 
to their interests. It was well-known, that this faction of the 
dominant party would stop at nothing and had influence over 
the Executive, and there were observed — or imagined — cer- 
tain ominous movements of troops, which many people feared 
might indicate the purpose of a coup d'etat. There can be no 
doubt that this feeling of unrest and dread exercised a certain 
duress — unconsciously to themselves, perhaps — upon the 
action of the Electoral Commission. So when this order con- 
trolling State militia was flashed upon the public — without 
any plausible explanation — it added to the apprehensions, 
which were filling the air. It was understood that the Ex- 
ecutive had said that, in the event of there not being a new 
President inaugurated on March 4, he would hold over, 
whereas, it was contended that he should yield the place to 
Mr. Ferry, the President of the Senate, a civilian and a 
moderate man not bound to any faction, although a Repub- 
lican. 



Inauguration and Administration 187 

But whatever the effect on others, the incident greatly con- 
tributed to Hampton's credit, for his dignity and forbear- 
ance and perfect manliness in the treatment of the matter 
could not but excite general admiration. 

One of the very agreeable accompaniments of this affair 
was the spontaneous burst of warm-heartedness from the 
Georgia militia. They all sent by telegram the kindest of 
invitations to the South Carolina militia, obstructed illegally 
in their own State, to join them in parading on Washington's 
Birthday. This, together with all the valuable assistance 
during these trying times so freely rendered by Senator 
John B. Gordon, left a deep impression. 

Bloodshed, accompanied by the old slogan of "rebellion," 
would, in the hysterical state of the public mind, have been 
a most valuable asset to the political heirs of Thaddeus Ste- 
vens. To this fact the order owes its origin in all probability. 
But, whatever the real cause may have been, there can be no 
doubt that it was the strongest provocation to bloodshed that 
could have been devised. Remember, that this people had 
been for ten long and weary years suffering the tortures of 
the damned in an inferno of chaos combined with despotism 
such as their Anglo-Saxon race had never experienced. Bear 
in mind, that by their unaided exertions, and with but scant 
sympathy, even from the outside, they had exacted from fate 
their redemption, for the election and installation of the 
Governor of their choice were now certain, and it was also 
generally known that with the inauguration of either Hayes 
or Tilden the Southern policy of the Washington adminis- 
tration would become humane and patriotic. And thus, after 
a decade of black night, full of miseries, horrors and delirious 
dreams, they felt that the glorious sunrise was near at hand ; 
* * it had not yet come, but already the light of gray dawn 
was transforming their world from a hideous prison-pen into 
a thing of beauty to their eyes — pleasant glimpses of the 
future were opening up through the vistas. And now comes 
this unprovoked blow in the face. The manhood in them 
cried out against abject submission to an edict no more 
morally or legally justifiable than would be a similar one 



188 Hampton and Reconstruction 

addressed to the English people by the Sultan of Turkey for- 
bidding them to do honor to the birthday of Queen Victoria. 
What ! Had not they before that been "proclaimed" ? Had 
the rifle-clubs been thereby "dispersed"? Had it not, on the 
contrary, proved a bugle-blast calling to the front every man 
worthy of the name, armed to the teeth? Was the soldiery 
now to attack the people peacefully and lawfully assembled? 
A hoarse, ominous murmur from the people became audible, 
which might well have burst into a deafening roar, drowning 
all expostulation, but the merciful God of Peace spoke from 
the lips of Hampton, "Submit yet awhile." Bloodshed was 
thus prevented, quiet restored, as it had been by his few 
calmly uttered words at the State House in Columbia in 
that impressive scene, which I have already attempted to 
describe. 

On February 27, a letter signed by Messrs. Stanley 
Mathews and Charles Foster, close personal friends of Mr. 
Hayes, was given to Senator John B. Gordon, of Georgia, 
outlining what the Southern policy of Mr. Hayes would be, 
if declared President. The Southern States were to be 
allowed to control their own affairs without Federal inter- 
ference. 

On March 4, Mr. Hayes, the decision of the Electoral Com- 
mission in his favor having been acquiesced in after some 
demur, was duly inaugurated, and the country breathed 
freely once again. He was recognized as an upright man, 
who would endeavor to do his duty and obey the Constitu- 
tion and the laws. He was not the choice of the people, as by 
the popular vote he was in a very decided minority, nor had 
he fairly received a majority of the real electoral vote, but, 
as far as he was concerned, his title was honorably based 
upon the decision of the Electoral Commission. But the very 
fact of his title being unique and not derived from the people, 
would naturally, on a conscientious man, such as he certainly 
was, have a sobering and steadying effect and keep him, it 
was felt, within the law. This proved true, and it was high 
time that the country should come to its old safe moorings, 
or wreck was ahead. 



Inauguration and Administration 189 

At first the Radical party in South Carolina had hoped 
against hope from the inauguration of Mr. Hayes, but its 
members almost immediately "gave in" and tried to make 
peace for themselves with "the powers that be." Mr. Cham- 
berlain was fast being stranded alone among the Federal bay- 
onets at the Capitol. On March 6 Stanley Mathews, after 
consultation with Haskell at Washington, wrote a letter to 
Chamberlain broadly though politely suggesting that he had 
better give up the contest. Mr. Evarts wrote a polite mes- 
sage on the letter, saying that he had read it. This was a 
shot between wind and water to an already practically 
sunken craft. Mr, Chamberlain replied, as he naturally 
would, from his standpoint, and no fault can be found with 
that, but added unnecessarily, it was thought, some words 
that when known gave offense. They were : 

"I have been exposed to personal danger by day and night 
constantly for five full months, and I am wearied to death." 

The fact of his having been in any personal danger was 
indignantly denied. It was pointed out, in the first place, 
that he had been at liberty to leave at any time he chose, and 
remained only for his own personal interests; that he had 
been constantly guarded while in the State House by United 
States troops, and his residence watched by the "State con- 
stabulary" and detectives, while all the white population of 
the State had only themselves to rely upon for protection, 
and were surrounded by troops and negroes stirred up to 
turbulence. If, therefore, it was contended, he was "wearied 
to death," they themselves could be excused for having 
nervous prostration. But still more loudly they exclaimed, 
that, whatever faults had been justly or unjustly laid at the 
door of the Southern people, no one had ever imputed cow- 
ardice to them, and that assassination was the quintessence 
of cowardice. They pointed out that the Reconstruction 
Acts had created many and untold evils — among others, rape 
and lynchings — but that even those Reconstruction Acts had 
never been able to naturalize assassination, which was held 
in immeasurable contempt and loathing. 

There is but a step, it is said, from the sublime to the 
ridiculous, and of this one is reminded by some of the straits 



190 Hampton and Reconstruction 

to which Mr. Chamberlain was put toward the end of his 
political existence. He had by that time ceased to be a trage- 
dian in the eyes of the public, and had become involuntarily 
a light and airy comedian. Our Nemesis can find few crueler 
instruments of torture than the lash of ridicule — many men 
in misfortune would rather be shot at than laughed at. Not 
only had Mr. Chamberlain's castles in Spain collapsed in 
ruins, "the cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces" 
"melted into air, into thin air," the "unsubstantial pageant 
faded," leaving "not a rack behind." This was bad enough, 
but might be borne with more or less equanimity, if the ele- 
ment of self-supposed dignity had not also "faded" "like the 
baseless fabric of this vision." To be reduced from the heroic 
role acclaimed throughout Stevensdom of champion of "the 
rights of man," defender of "a free ballot and a fair count" 
(or was it only a free count?), and changed into a political 
mendicant, locked out of the tills of the taxpayers, and com- 
pelled to buttonhole in vain for loans every one whom he 
could think of ; after having long been "clothed in purple and 
fine linen and fared sumptuously every day" at the expense 
of his neighbors, to be reduced to the "cold wittles" of a 
defeated "statesman," and to be deafened by the unavailing 
clamors of his "faithful few" for "change" for market and 
wails for drink, and the "bar'l" empty ; to be gravely reproved 
and even vilified by former Northern friends, who had been 
until lately hounding him on to obtain the electoral vote at 
any price of criminality; after leaving for the last time the 
State House, and alone, deserted by all, driving through 
unfrequented, silent streets in a hired hack to his temporary 
home, to realize that he must for the first time pay the fare 
out of his own pocket instead of as formerly from the public 
treasury — all this, and much more like it, must have been 
very trying indeed, and the best that he could hope for from 
the public was, not sympathy, but a smile of amusement. It 
is one thing to imagine one's self, when "the jig is up," a 
Roman hero falling on his sword, and quite another to know 
one's self to be, in plain English, only a defeated and offi- 
cially "hard-up" politician (officially "hard-up" only, of 
course, for naturally there would be treasures laid up, not in 



Inauguration and Administration 191 

Heaven, perhaps, but at the North, in safety from molesta- 
tion). If it were not for fear of being accused of undue 
levity, I should be inclined to "size up" the situation by quot- 
ing a unique epitaph, the appreciative tribute to the stren- 
uous but unfortunate deceased : 

"He done his d — dest, and no one can't do no more." 



192 Hampton and Reconstruction 

CHAPTER EIGHTH 
President Hayes Restores Constitutional Government 

Peace in the crowded town, 

Peace In a thousand fields of waving grain, 

Peace in the highway and the flowery lane, 
Peace on the windswept down ! 

Peace on the farthest seas, 

Peace in our sheltered bays and ample streams, 

Peace whereso'er our starry garland gleams, 
And peace in every breeze ! 

Peace in the whirring marts. 

Peace where the scholar thinks, the hunter roams. 
Peace, God of Peace, peace, peace, in all our homes. 

And peace in all our hearts ! 

— Henry Timrod. 

As time went on after Mr. Hayes's inauguration, impa- 
tience began to be manifested with the delay in carrying out 
the promised withdrawal of troops. It had always been the 
fixed intention of the community never again to submit to 
negro rule. They had fairly and squarely elected their own 
government, and it was now in working order. They would 
exhaust all peaceable legal means to regain their rights, but, 
failing that, in the end they would render it necessary to 
establish and permanently sustain absolute military govern- 
ment administered by white men; either real representative 
government or the naked bayonet, but never again the negro 
as ruler. No question but that Mr. Hayes was acting in good 
faith, but great impediments were sought to be put in his 
way by the faction in his own party hostile to him, and then 
the Louisiana problem was not yet settled. Hayes tenta- 
tively put out the proposition to Hampton which had already 
been made to him by Radicals in the State — to have another 
election and abide by the result. The Governor replied that 
he would consent to this, provided Mr. Hayes would agree to 
abide by the result of another Presidential election, but not 
otherwise. Then a commission, somewhat the same in prin- 
ciple as the electoral one, was proposed, but this was also 
declined. 



Constitutional Government Again 193 

The newspapers at the North began to criticize Mr. Hayes 
pretty severelj^ for not acting. So on March 23 lie wrote a 
very friendly letter to Hampton asking him, if convenient, to 
pay him a visit in Washington to talk, matters over, and the 
General wrote on March 26 that he would accept the invita- 
tion. He briefly explains in his letter to Hayes the situation, 
and says: "I give the assurance that no proscription shall 
be exercised here on account of political opinions; that no 
discrimination shall be made in the administration of justice, 
and that all citizens of both parties and both races shall be 
regarded and fully protected by and amenable to the laws." 

Hayes also wrote inviting Mr. Chamberlain to come on to 
see him, which he did. 

So Hampton went to Washington, accompanied by General 
M. C. Butler. A committee of citizens of Charleston inter- 
ested in commercial matters also went on to Washington to 
confer with the President. 

Hampton's trip was one continuous ovation. At every rail- 
way station a crowd was present, when the train stopped, to 
express the admiration of the people. Seldom, if ever, has 
such a genuine, spontaneous, popular outburst been wit- 
nessed. It was not confined to places in his own State; the 
feeling was equall}^ appreciative in North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia. When in Washington, admirers wished to make a 
great popular demonstration in a serenade, but he persuaded 
them that it was better not to do this. 

On March 29 General Hampton, accompanied by his Attor- 
ney-General, Conner, and by Senator Gordon of Georgia, had 
a very pleasant interview with Mr. Hayes. He dined that 
evening with Mr. Evarts, and was during his stay in Wash- 
ington constantly meeting people, turning those hitherto 
opposed politically to him into personal friends, and warm- 
ing up to steam heat the hearts of old acquaintances, for he 
possessed in a most remarkable degree, as has before been 
pointed out, that wonderful influence over men, call it mag- 
netic, psychic, whatever you like, a very real and grand power 
over one's fellow-men. 

At length Mr. Hayes was "hypnotized" by Hampton, and 
on April 2 agreed to withdraw the troops, and let Hampton 



194 Hampton and Reconstruction 

take possession of the Capitol. This the Governor promised 
he would do by legal means if necessary, and not by force. 
If Mr. Chamberlain still declined, after the withdrawal of the 
troops, to vacate the Capitol, he would proceed against him 
by law, eject him in that manner, not using harshly the 
treason process, which could have been done, but acting under 
a statute against such as attempted to carry on government 
under pretended authority. Hampton renewed his assur- 
ances of peace given Hayes by letter, and wired Mr. Simpson, 
Lieutenant-Governor : 

"Everything is satisfactorily and honorably settled. I ex- 
pect our people to preserve absolute peace and quiet. My 
word is pledged for them. I rely on them." 

The withdrawal of troops was fixed for April 10. 

The return of Hampton was marked by even greater pop- 
ular demonstrations along the route than his trip to Wash- 
ington had been. Railway stations were ornamented with 
bunting of welcome and garlanded with flowers. A deputation 
in a special train from Columbia met him at Charlotte, N. C, 
and a great mass meeting was held there, followed by a recep- 
tion. It was a "royal progress" all the way ! On his arrival 
at Columbia he was met by thousands, and escorted by a 
procession to his home. In each case he acquainted the peo- 
ple in a speech with what he had done in their name and for 
their benefit, and as to what was expected of them and prom- 
ised in their behalf. 

There was on his return a "landslide" of Republicans to 
Hampton. They all wanted to get aboard the Democratic 
wagon. "Honest John" Patterson, Senator, promised to 
cease all opposition and to support General Butler for his 
position in the Senate. The Republican leaders now gen- 
erally said that Hampton's election was for the good of the 
State and everyone in it, and expressed great satisfaction 
with the character of his addresses. 

Mr. Chamberlain, too, returned to Columbia, and to the 
State House. He had been urged by the "Stalwarts," who had 
quarreled with Hayes, to hold on to the last gasp, as they 
wished to do all that they could to embarrass the President. 
But within the last twenty-four hours before the time fixed 



Constitutional Government Again 195 

for the withdrawal of the troops, he concluded that further 
opposition was not advisable, and Hampton took possession, 
as arranged between them, on the morning of April 11. 

At exactly twelve o'clock of April 10, the order was heard 
in the Capitol : 

"Attention !" 

"Take arms !" 

"Unfix bayonets!" 

"Carry arms !" 

"Count fours !" 

"Twos right !" 

"March !" 

Thus ended the most deplorable drama, of using troops to 
carry elections in South Carolina. God grant that it ended 
thus forever in America. In His mercy this time He raised 
up Hampton, with courage, patience, temper, and wisdom 
most wonderful, but human endurance has its limits. 

Mr. Chamberlain thought well to issue an address, nom- 
inally to his constituents but really intended, no doubt, for 
the country. It was all a repetition of the old story of which 
the country was now heartily tired, for it had heard and 
seen Hampton. It also took Hayes severely to task. The 
newspapers at the North were not generally at all compli- 
mentary in their comments on it. The Springfield Republi- 
can called it "a case of excusable cussing." 

The New York Sun said: "Chamberlain's piratical ship 
goes down defiantly with the bloody shirt nailed to the mast." 

The New York Herald said: "The protest is an insult to 
the common sense and moral feeling of the country." 

The Philadelphia Times remarked : "He retired ungra- 
ciously and ungracefully," and adds: "The dispassionate 
men of all parties will see in his bombastic and reckless ap- 
peal only a terrible arraignment of himself, if only half be 
true that he alleges as the condition of South Carolina." 

The New York World put it : "A hollow sound." 

And so on with others. 

However, at this distance of time, it seems to those not 
behind the scenes in the Republican camp, that Mr. Chamber- 
lain was, at the end, badly treated by his party, unless there 



196 Hampton and Reconstruction 

has been recompense unknown to us. An estimate of the 
kind of campaign carried on and methods used may be 
made from this narrative, but at all events it was openly 
done with the approbation or at the instigation of the lead- 
ing faction at that time in the party, and it caused Hayes to 
be President. How much of the cruelty and severity of the 
campaign measures made use of by Federal oflftcials Avas 
without his privity and desire we have no means of knowing, 
but between the pressure from that quarter and from the 
irresponsible, reckless, and desperate Radical element in the 
State, it can be inferred that he was swept along against his 
original purposes by an irresistible current. In this narra- 
tive, however, we can only relate, without prejudice against 
anyone, the facts of the case as they appear on the record. 
Probably, after all, his address was intended as a brief of his 
case for his party. It was said at the time that he was 
offered a mission abroad. 

One of the first fruits of Senator ("Honest John") Pat- 
terson's repentance, vowed to Hampton on bended knee at 
Washington, was to be the release, and entering of nol pros. 
in the cases against citizens arrested on charges of "con- 
spiracy to deprive the negroes of the right to vote." Accord- 
ing to Patterson, these numbered seven hundred — it is 
natural to suppose an underestimate — and the arrested were 
chiefly in the rural districts, where homes would be thus 
rendered unprotected, and much hardship result. This num- 
ber would be about one per cent, of the total white voting 
population of the State, but of course a very much larger 
percentage of the white voters in the country districts, where 
these arrests had been made. Estimating each family, whose 
male bread-winners and protectors were thus taken from 
them, to average four persons, this would show at least two 
thousand eight hundred people on farms and iu hamlets left 
in a condition of misery by this "plan of campaign." The 
charges against them were "trumped up" on irresponsible 
negro affidavits (at "one-fifty for one, or eighteen dollars a 
dozen"), and were now generally admitted to have been with- 
out foundation in fact. All this was done in order that Mr. 
Morton and his friends should obtain the electoral vote of the 



Constitutional Government Again 197 

State and a President supposedly favorable to their personal 
interests. If this had been done in Russia, what would have 
been said about it in the United States? 

Though "Honest John" had said that these prosecutions 
would be dropped, yet, owing to his quarreling with some 
of his former friends or for some other reason, they all 
were not nol prossed. In May the so-called Ellenton rioters 
(the whites, not the blacks) were tried before the United 
States Circuit Court in Charleston. The District Attorney 
managed to exclude all white men from the jury, except such 
as could take the "iron-clad oath," i. e., that they had not 
served in the Confederate army, w^hich excluded nearly all 
men not cripples within a certain age; and the rest of the 
jurors were negroes, such as always could be found hanging 
around court-houses, anxious to serve on juries in political 
cases, and pocket money without work. But it was as 
well. For there was one acquittal, and all the other cases 
turned out mistrials, the negroes invariably going for con- 
viction, and the white jurymen (though "iron-clad oath" 
men) for acquittal. It was a perfect vindication of the 
accused. It was proved that the affair originated in an 
attempt at rape made by two negroes upon a white woman, 
and that the whites by the posse saved the entire section from 
being destroyed by the negroes, evidently incited by prear- 
rangement for the political purposes of the canvass. But the 
accused had been put to great anxiety for themselves and 
families, loss of time, and expense by the prosecutions, thus 
suffering irreparable injury. It was brought out in the trial 
that before the riots harangues were being freely and openly 
made to the negroes, inciting them to murder and arson. 

If anyone really feared an outbreak from whites or negroes 
on the withdrawal of the troops and the acknowledged unob- 
structed rule of Hampton, the event proved them to have 
been entirely mistaken. On the contrary, it was like a quiet 
Sunday morning after a turmoil ; there was universal relief. 
So quiet and natural was the dropping-back to normal 
conditions that the people could hardly realize that all the 
artificially produced misery of the last eight years was not 
merely the recollection of a bad dream, which had no real 



198 Hampton and Reconstruction 

existence, until they looked around them upon the havoc 
made in their fortunes and the marring of the lives of at 
least two generations. To the negroes themselves — not 
leaders in politics — it was probably a greater relief than 
even to the whites. They had been so bullied and badgered 
by the Radicals that the}' did not know where to turn. 
If they sought, as many did, their natural protectors, 
between whom and themselves there was always a gravita- 
tion, they met the denunciations of their leaders and still 
more of the preachers and the negro women. After the first 
novelty of voting had worn off, they would not have cared for 
it at all, if not inflamed by the demagogues. They knew full 
well that it had proved a fatal gift replete with evil to both 
themselves and the white population. But now the barriers 
set up by politicians for their own benefit were knocked 
down — or rather, had rotted away from natural causes — and 
they were, for the first time in eight years, reall}^ free, and 
felt it so. Moreover, they realized the conviction that, even if 
there had been any vindictive feeling against them among 
citizens of the other color, they possessed an impregnable 
rock of defense in Hampton, who had pledged to them just 
treatment, and from him that meant more than just, it meant 
kindly, considerate treatment, and he would keep his promise, 
they knew, though the sky fell. No one on the outside ever 
will, ever can — it is useless to try to explain — quite under- 
stand the mutual feelings between such a man as Hampton 
and the blacks. Born the hereditary owner of vast numbers 
of negro slaves, and saturated with the inherited feeling of 
kindness, protection, considerateness for their many faults 
and failings and sense of responsibility for their happiness 
and well-being, he was not divested of these sentiments by 
emancipation. To his dying day, in all his poverty, no poor 
wretch of a negro would ever bring to him an unheeded tale 
of distress and request for help; the last cent in his pocket 
would be bestowed, and kind words and advice as well. That, 
and because, too, he never could bring himself to refuse to 
help an old fellow-soldier, were the chief reasons why he died 
poor. It was, also, from this mutual feeling — which it is 
hopeless to make clear to this generation born during the 



Constitutional Government Again 199 

inferno of Reconstruction at the South, or residing in other 
and differently constituted communities — that he possessed 
so much influence on the votes of negroes during the cam- 
paign. They naturally looked up to him, were proud of him, 
proud of themselves as being "Car'linians," as he was. They 
never could have felt so toward a stranger, charmed he never 
so wisely. This was a factor in the campaign which the 
Radicals, most of whom really regarded the blacks as so 
many "dumb driven cattle," could never appreciate, but that 
is why the boasted twenty thousand majority melted away 
from them so unexpectedly. 

Hampton had promised Hayes, and reiterated in his 
speeches, that both parties and colors should be "protected 
by and amenable to the laws." This however did not make 
it possible, even if it had been desirable, to protect those who 
had been guilty of flagrant civil crimes. That would have 
been to compound with felonies. There were, therefore, a 
good many former "statesmen," who now found it advis- 
able — or thought it so — to leave for pastures new. There was 
no vindictiveness — every one felt too happy to be vindictive — 
but, naturally, with a carnival of unrestricted rascality in 
progress for eight years, or more, the number of criminals at 
large would have filled all the penitentiaries in the United 
States, and half of them Avished to turn "state's evidence" 
against the other half. But great forbearance was shown, 
and absolute amnesty was tacitly given to all negroes, except 
some of the most criminal leaders, who incontinently fled. 

To those with a tendency to philosophize, and having the 
leisure for it, one of the strangest features of the transforma- 
tion effected by Hampton's acknowledged rule was that there 
was not, from the first moment of it, a vestige left of any 
other government. There were no debris, no wreckage ma- 
terial to be seen ; no ruins. It had simply disappeared like 
a mirage in the desert. The reason is not far to seek ; there 
never had, in sober truth, been any government at all under 
Radical rule. There had only been a nebulous, misty phan- 
tasm of nauseous vapor, in the air, which faded out of sight 
immediately when the bayonets of the troops were removed, 
and which could have been blown away into space — if the 



200 Hampton and Reconstruction 

bayonets had not been there — at any time, in five minutes, 
during the last eight years. It is said that there is houor 
among thieves, but it was not so in this case; they turned 
upon one another, like wolves devouring the wounded of the 
pack, and there was hardly one who proved other than a 
coward, when the time for bragging was past, and for action 
had come. 

As political affairs were now on a settled basis, Hampton 
was but too glad to lay down the sceptre of dictator, which, 
by universal acclamation, he had been compelled to assume 
eight months before. He called a session of the Legislature 
to meet on April 24. It is only fair here to revert to the 
difficulties, which he had overcome, backed by a united peo- 
ple, during those eight months. 

Never had the clouds lowered blacker over the political, 
commercial, and industrial conditions of South Carolina, and 
of the South in general, than they did in August, 1876. It is 
needless to remind the reader by reexhibiting the vivid pic- 
tures painted by Mr. Pike and Mr. Chamberlain. Beside 
this, a Presidential contest was on of the closest and hottest 
description. The Morton party scanned with eager, anxious 
eyes the political prospects in every State, and they could 
afford to lose none which could In' possibility be held. They 
saw in South Carolina a popular uprising from a condition 
of unparalleled distress and misery, which must be crushed 
or the electoral vote would be lost to them, and that electoral 
vote they considered they owned by right of conquest. They, 
therefore, employed measures, which I have only partially, 
but perhaps sufficiently, described, and it must be confessed 
by any one at this date that they were "heroic remedies" 
indeed, such a spectacle as God forbid Americans shall ever 
again behold. The "Conservatives" had but limited financial 
resources and many expenses to meet in the purchase of 
arms, and ammunition to protect their homes and for usual 
campaign purposes, and received no assistance from outside 
the State. They had a majority of negro votes of twenty 
thousand to overcome. All the electoral machinery of the 
so-called State government was against them, handled ably 
and unscrupulously, and also the courts and legal machinery. 



Constitutional Government Again 201 

and militia and State constabulary. The Democrats, black 
and white, were perpetually harried by the marshal, with 
one thousand deputies and troops, and intimidated and 
obstructed in the canvass. A patent fraud was eventually 
engineered by Federal officials by which the Board of Can- 
vassers did their utmost to defeat the will of the people, and 
the Legislature was organized by troops. Moreover, though 
Hampton was backed by the people and would have been 
sustained through thick and thin by all the better and by 
far the larger part of them, yet all are not of the stuff from 
which heroes are made. Though ably and gallantly assisted 
by the men who stood close to him and cooperated with and 
obeyed by the people, yet it was like one grand battle from 
August to April, where the General had to be on the firing- 
line day and night, and exercise the authority, the one-man 
power, which in the exigencies of battle is indispensable to 
requisite discipline and success. It was no time for debating 
societies. All this, he did, exhibiting a wisdom and intuition, 
a self-restraint and control of the wills of the people, without 
which success would have been utterly impossible. It was 
for him and him alone to "pluck up drowned honor by the 
locks" for us all. 

The Legislature met on the day appointed. It will be 
remembered that the Democrats had a majority in the House, 
but not in the Senate. The Kadicals in the latter body met in 
a somewhat defiant mood, thinking to have things their own 
way. But in this they found themselves mistaken. There 
were so many members against whom criminal prosecutions 
could be instituted that they were sufficiently weeded out. It 
was discovered — among other things — from evidence of rec- 
ord in some of the public offices, that Gleaves, Whittemore, 
Nash, and Woodruff had purchased thousands of dollars' 
worth of champagne, brandy, whiskey, and cigars for their 
private use delivered at their homes and paid for them with 
warrants signed by Woodruff, Clerk of the Senate, and 
Gleaves, Lieutenant-Governor. In one instance over $5,000 
had been paid out in this way and charged on the books as 
"stationery." Gleaves had been Lieutenant-Governor from 
1874 to 1876, as a "reformer," and had claimed to have been 



202 Hampton and Reconstruction 

reelected in the last election. He was a weak-looking, meer- 
schaum-colored mulatto. Whittemore, a Congressman ex- 
pelled from Washington for cadet-peddling, was now the 
chairman of several Senate committees, a most sanctimonius 
fellow in whose mouth butter would not melt, with the 
manner of a "preacher," very deprecatory and mild. It 
also came out now, that he had pocketed some money 
assigned him for the purchase of portraits of Lincoln and 
Sumner intended for the Capitol. So he fled without more 
ado, as did the others soon afterward. It seems that "though 
on pleasure bent," they "had a frugal mind," for they con- 
ducted barrooms and brothels for their own profit at the 
expense of the State. 

When the houses had been put in running order, Hampton 
sent in his message, which was a very able document, laying 
down a well-digested programme. Matters financial and 
otherwise were found in a deplorable condition, and long and 
arduous efforts would be necessary to reestablish a satisfac- 
tory administration. 

How well and faithfully was performed by Hampton the 
task of building up the waste places desolated by ten years of 
turbulance and robbery, it is not within the scope of this 
narrative to relate. The story of the "crisis" has been briefly 
but fairly told, of Hampton — the Pacificator. Nor is it the 
writer's intention to relate Hampton's career of two terms in 
the United States Senate. That is a part of the history of 
the country in general, and concerns broad questions not pur- 
posed to be discussed here. Sufiice it to say that his record 
in the Senate of the United States is one of which his State 
may well be proud, and that he and Butler conspicuously 
redeemed the honor of their constituency, which had been dis- 
graced by such creatures as "Honest John" and his fellows. 

The wounds inflicted upon the State by Reconstruction 
were deep and gangrenous when Hampton took up the 
reins of government. The blood-poisoning, however, is not 
incurable, and in two decades from now the patient may 
have entirely recovered, provided it is possible "to close the 
door of hope" from the "race-question" to the ambition of the 
politician and to the temerity of the uninformed meddler. 



Constitutional* Government Again 203 

For this it is only necessary to leave that question where it 
belongs, outside of politics, and to those who from birth, 
experience and sympathy are fitted to deal with it: to let it 
rest in the patient and conscientious treatment prescribed by 
Hampton. He who interferes is the worst enemy the negro 
can have. He is the worst enemy, too, that the white popula- 
tion can have, whether he err from evil design or folly or 
both combined, for he it will be who keeps the South ''solid." 
She first was made so to her ruin, as a vassal of "Recon- 
struction," and is so today, as a free community, to protect 
herself from the possibility of a similar fate. As long as the 
beacons of danger are lighted, so long will there be an 
Eleventh Commandment, obeyed as conscientiously as the 
ten handed down from Sinai, "Before all else, thou shalt 
stand 'solid' with thy neighbor against negro rule under 
whatever disguise." Remove the menace, and the South 
would gladly again, as she formerly did, possess two parties 
honorably divided on general policies. It was unscrupulous 
politicians who first made her "solid"; it is they only who 
can keep her so. She realizes that "solidity" tends to con- 
traction and narrowness of thought, and an isolation harm- 
ful to intellectual and material effort. She knows, too, that 
the so-called "race-question," come what may, will be settled 
by the march of events, and that it is at most only a tem- 
porary matter; that her territory, so broad and fertile, is 
ample to maintain in happiness and plenty hundreds of mil- 
lions of inhabitants, and that, when the certain prospect of 
this has been evolved into a living fact — as surely it will be, 
and that, too, in a short space, measured by the life-time of 
races — the negroes will constitute such a small percentage of 
the total population as to have ceased to be a very important 
factor in the social life of the section. But for that very 
reason is he the negroes' worst foe who would sever them 
from their neighbors, who must then be their only help and 
protection. Well knowing all this, the South is also aware 
that meantime grave injury may be done to her in the future 
as w^as done in the past; that there is nothing so evil and 
unjust but that wily politicians, and ingenious doctrinaires 



204 Hampton and Reconstruction 

may with it "fool all the people some of the time," to her 
detriment and the disturbance of the whole country. 

Though this may be play to you, 
'Tis death to us ! 

With a statesman of grasp at the fore, and amateurs and 
negrophilists to the rear, it would not be found necessary or 
expedient for the Kepublican party to make a flank attack 
upon the South through the attempt to curtail her Congres- 
sional representation, for the purpose of legislating against 
her thus weakened, in the spirit if not the form of the Kecon- 
struction period. Common interests would make allies, if 
allowed to do their peaceful work uninterrupted. There are 
many such common interests, among them the cotton-spin- 
ning industry. The South now spins considerably more raw 
cotton than the North. South Carolina is the largest spinner 
of any State in the Union, except Massachusetts, consuming 
in her mills more than half of the raw material which she 
grows, and of the money invested in these enterprises more 
than four-fifths is Southern capital. And so in the great iron 
industry and others, there are interests, and therefore politi- 
cal opinions, common to both sections. With common inter- 
ests to draw the country together, there are really no longer 
sectional questions to separate it. If our rebellion against 
Great Britain was right, many might think "imperialism," or 
any approach to it, wrong ; but there is nearly as much diver- 
sity in sentiment on this subject at the South as at the North, 
and so on with other public questions, not excepting even the 
trusts. Disintegration of the "Solid South" can be arrested 
only by calling back from a hideous past the loathsome 
specter of Reconstruction. Only let us alone with the "black 
peril," and it will cease to be one. Encourage "expansion" 
in liberality and toleration, and we are friends and brothers 
through thick and thin. For the "Monroe doctrine," if you 
like, in the "yellow peril," if it comes, "our rifles are your 
own." 

As we were re-reading the above long after it had been 
written, a coincidence worth relating occurred. A large 
party of Northern tourists had just made a journey through 
the South on an "Educational Conference" (the "Ogden 



Constitutional Government Again 205 

movement") in order to teach the Southern people how to 
elevate the Southern negro by education. The three principal 
speakers (Carnegie, Taft, and Booker Washington) were 
reported as advocating the education of the Southern negroes 
to render them capable of taking an important part in legisla- 
tion in the "black belt," as they termed the Cotton States. A 
fourth speaker declared that the putting the ballot in the 
hands of the Southern negroes was right in spite of the 
ghastly results of the Stevens-Morton scheme of Reconstruc- 
tion. You may say that these were only foolish, idle words, 
which could really do no harm, because the percentage of 
Southern negroes sufficiently educated to be politicians would 
always remain too small, compared with the ever-increasing 
white population, to constitute an important political factor 
in the community. This would be true, were it not that but 
slender mental equipment suffices for a politician, and this 
the mulattoes, with the greater intelligence derived from their 
white blood, could acquire and then, in their own personal 
interests, vote the negroes "like dumb driven cattle," as was 
done during Reconstruction, and in this way hold the balance 
of power between white factions, and thus practically rule. 
We have no comment to make on this further than to say that 
it accentuates the wisdom, nay, the necessity of a "solid 
South," and tends to postpone the good time coming when it 
will be possible to have two legitimate political parties there. 
But the point which we wish to make is this: A careful 
student of the statistics of crime finds that the South as a 
whole is more law-abiding than the North, and also that the 
percentage of crime among Southern negroes is as four to 
seven among Northern blacks, or not much over half as great. 
Such being the case, we cannot help saying that perhaps it 
would be better to learn from the Southerners how to elevate 
Northern blacks. As announced by the Chairman, the thou- 
sands of dollars expended in the tour were furnished by the 
great oil monopolist, who at the time was undergoing legal 
investigation for alleged rascalities, which is regrettable. 
The chief speaker was the mammoth steel monopolist. The 
Chairman himself possesses the confidence of all as to his 
intentions. Another thing to be noted is that, if it is true, 



206 Hampton and Reconstruction 

as they allege it is, that the percentage of illiteracy at the 
South is much greater than at the North, and as it is proved 
by statistics, that the percentage of criminality is greater at 
the North than at the South, it follows that education (edu- 
cation, as they understand the meaning of the term ; that is 
to say, "the three R's" and what accompanies them) does not 
necessarily promote morality, 

A book has been recently published by Mr. Von Grabill 
under the title Letters from Tuskegee, in which he alleges 
that very grave irregularities, and worse, exist in the manage- 
ment of that institution. Of course, these charges will be 
denied by the management, and every one will hope that they 
are exaggerations — most sincerely will those hope so to whom 
they do not come as a surprise. The most serious accusa- 
tions, at least those upon which most stress is laid, may be 
classed under four heads : "graft," sexual immorality, incul- 
cation of social equality and all that the term implies, and 
insincerity in the boasted industrial education, of which we 
have heard so much laudation from some sources. 

As to "graft," its existence there can be a matter of aston- 
ishment to but few, for money lavishly subscribed and put at 
the disposal of irresponsible parties is sure to lead to this. 
Recent revelations in life insurance, railway, banking, and 
other circles conducted by members of the Aryan race should 
make us slow in casting stones at the colored people for sim- 
ilar crimes, and if well-intentioned, but badily-informed, per- 
sons choose to squander their money in ill-advised subscrip- 
tions, it is, perhaps, only their own concern. 

In regard to sexual immorality, we would suggest that this 
is too harsh a term to use in characterizing the ojffense. 
Negro blood, by an inexorable law of nature, carries with it 
uncontrolable lust, and the colored race is no more to be 
blamed for possessing this characteristic than for having 
dark complexions. 

Of the yearning for social equality, it should be remembered 
that it, too, is a universal inheritance of the blood, which 
elicits pity, not anger, from the white man. 

But the fourth charge, that the pretended industrial educa- 
tion is a "fake," a complete fraud, is very serious and 



Constitutional Government Again 207 

demands rigid investigation, for it is the one subject of real 
practical importance to be considered. Industrial training 
pursued in a bona fide manner, with sensible methods, would 
prove useful to both races; but if it is a "fake," as charged, 
or even if it is in a measure a fraud, or inefficiently conducted, 
it will greatly assist nature in increasing the weight that the 
colored race is and must be upon any community. 

It may seem strange that so little has been said in this book 
about the secret organizations, which are supposed by many 
to have played so important a part during Reconstruction. 
But they did not play at all the important part often attrib- 
uted to them ; the work was chiefly in the open. One cannot 
approve in general of the principle of secrecy in combina- 
tions, or think such, under normal conditions, justifiable — 
there is too much risk of the remedy becoming worse than the 
disease. There may arise sometimes, however, terrible exi- 
gencies that justify secret associations. Secrecy is the 
weapon of the weak against the strong. Should David tell 
Goliath beforehand of his sling? It is essential to any organ- 
ization of a military character, which without it would be 
ridiculous. The people found it necessary to make Hampton 
a virtual dictator, as they had been compelled to confer sim- 
ilar authority on Rutledge a hundred years before. The 
American, whose birthright is liberty, is reluctant to tolerate 
secrecy, or render unquestioning obedience except in war. 
But the campaign of 1876 was war peacefully waged by cour- 
age, intelligence, and self-restraint. 

I have now presented the case of Reconstruction to my 
reader on its merits, free from the legal quibbles of the hired 
attorney. For his sake, for his convenience, I have stricken 
out from my brief unnecessary details that otherwise would 
have filled volumes, through which he could not be expected 
to have the patience to wade. To avoid harsh personalities 
(for I am for peace and tolerate "blood and iron" only as a 
last resort, and even then it is a remedy often worse than the 
disease), the chief offenders have not been designated by me 
as such by name (with two exceptions). But the reader can 
not mistake their identity. They are pilloried in the public 



208 Hampton and Reconstruction 

records by their own acts, those politicians who nullified Lin- 
coln's testament to the people, who destroyed his most cher- 
ished ideals, his fondest, dearest hopes. "With malice 
toward none, with charity for all," I ask only that these 
offenders be branded with eternal condemnation in order that 
they may be distinguished from honest men by those who 
read this book, and by their children and their children's 
children. And surely, sooner or later, will they have their 
resurrection from "bottomless perdition." But they will not 
come in the cerements of the grave, but clothed in most 
"up-to-date" garments, "silver-tongued," or smoothly speak- 
ing "golden Avords" of sophistry. But they should be known 
by the brand. 

So, I submit my little brief as sufficient. I do not desire 
to address the jury, confident its conscience will render a 
verdict of "Guilty." 



Declining Years and Death 209 



CHAPTER NINTH 

Declining Years — Death 

Suffering ! and yet majestical in pain ; 

Mysterious ! yet, like spring-showers in the sun, 
Veiling the light with their melodious rain, 

Life is a warp of gloom and glory spun. 

— Hayne. 

Unpractis'd he to fawn, or seeli for power 
By doctrines fashlon'd to the varying hour. 

— Goldsmith. 

At the State election in 1878 Hampton was elected to a 
second term as Governor. There was no opposition from 
Democrats: it was on their part virtually a unanimous 
plebiscite. During the first year of his second administra- 
tion, he was sent to the United States Senate, and served two 
terms. After that he was appointed by Mr. Cleveland Com- 
missioner of Pacific Railroads, which office he held until a 
change of administration, and for about one year after- 
ward. This ended his public career, as far as office was con- 
cerned. But in the record of his declining years are found 
unfailing amiability, magnanimity, wisdom, and heroism, 
which endured as long as life lasted, and which have left a 
sweet fragrance about his memory that will always be present 
to those well acquainted with his story. 

We have passed the noonday summit, 

We have left the noonday heat, 
And down the hillside slowly, 

Descend on weary feet. 

I wish I could quote, as appropriate, the next succeeding 
lines, 

Yet the evening airs are balmy, 
And the evening shadows sweet, 

but on him the "evening airs" blew chill, and the "evening 
shadows" were gloomy. Yet, with a spirit which would 
make no surrender to fate, with mind clear, memory perfect, 
and kindliness, cheerfulness, and attractiveness undimin- 
ished, he lived his life bravely to the end, and was no less the 
hero than at the most brilliant stages of his career. 



210 Hampton and Reconstruction 

Wheu elected to the Senate he had not yet recovered from 
a bad accident. He had taken an outing in November on a 
deer hunt at some distance from his home. It had proved 
difficult to procure a suitable horse, and he had contented 
himself with a young mule as a mount, being able to ride any- 
thing. While alone in the woods, the bridle proved rotten, 
and the head-stall and bit fell off. The wretched animal be- 
came uncontrolable, and dashing wildly through the woods 
brought the General's leg in contact with a tree with great 
violence. This occurring at some distance from where suitable 
surgical assistance could be obtained, the injury was aggra- 
vated. It proved necessary to amputate the leg below the 
knee. The delay thus caused in making the operation pro- 
duced very serious complications, and for days his life was 
despaired of. During all that time the public hung over the 
reports about him on the newspaper bulletin boards as eagerly 
and anxiously as if it had been a near and dear relative whose 
life was wavering in the balance. At the Charleston Club 
private telegrams describing his condition were posted from 
time to time during the day. In the end, his magnificent con- 
stitution, never enfeebled by excesses, triumphed, and there 
was a long breath of relief, and many a "thank God!" was 
reverently uttered. Nor did it very materially interfere after- 
ward with his horsemanship, and he continued to be a cheer- 
ing sight when mounted. His health, however, was somewhat 
affected by the local pain afterward experienced and by the 
curtailment rendered necessary, at times, of out-door exercise. 
But to the end he hunted, and his rod confined to be almost 
as much a resource as formerly, as it could be used with much 
less physical exertion than the gun. To his former captures 
of the gamest fish he added many trophies of tarpon, when 
that finny champion in silver-mail entered the lists. On one 
occasion, when pursuing sport with the latter, he was beaten 
in the day's score by his companion, a lady of his family very 
expert with rod and reel, and there was consequently a great 
joke at his expense. It was pleasant to hear during his rail- 
road commissionership of his sometimes landing some big fel- 
lows off the Southern California coast and of the interest 



Declining Years and Death 211 

which he would take during the evenings in arranging tackle 
for the next day's exploits. 

It is necessary to refer to a painful period of Hampton's 
life, because then he exhibited grand qualities, and without 
notice of them, some of the most exalted, as well as most 
lovable of his characteristics, would be passed over, but the 
writer does this with no tinge of hostility against anyone. 
Such a feeling would be altogether out of keeping with the 
nature of his subject. Moreover, there are certain great 
principles which are unchangeable and admit of no com- 
promise; which are as imperative always as the '^ eleven" 
Commandments; but when you come to apply those prin- 
ciples to practical cases, there often will be room for honest, 
and intelligent differences of opinion. Besides, important 
subjects are like mountains seen from different points of 
view. The man who has always lived immovably fixed on 
the east is familiar with the contour as seen from that side, 
and thinks he knows all about that mountain, and by what 
trail to cross or climb : he who has all his life long lived on 
the west is equally cock-sure that he understands that moun- 
tain through and through; and the two, meeting by chance 
on neutral ground, are ready to beat each other to death to 
prove the correctness of their views. Yet neither is neces- 
sarily either a fool or a villain, but only a narrow-minded 
person. A third dweller in the neighborhood, who happens 
to have been repeatedly round and round the mountain, can 
see that each disputant is right from his own standpoint, 
and wrong from the other man's : in short that "heterodoxy 
is somebody else's doxy." 

The failure to be elected for a third term to the United 
States Senate closed Hampton's active political career. This, 
happening not at his own volition, but like a blow in the 
face, would try to the fullest any man's equanimity. It 
ended his official influence, and took him out of a sphere of 
usefulness which had become also during those twelve years 
a habit of life at an age when, after long years spent in the 
service of his people, it was too late to take up other occu- 
pations. It forever put out of his reach the objects of hon- 
orable ambition, which he had always pursued to the benefit 



212 Hampton and Keconsteuction 

of the community. Moreover, busily occupied since 1876 
with public concerns, he had had no opportunity to look after 
his private interests and thus recuperate in fortune, as 
others had been able to do through improved conditions, 
which he had done so very much to produce. The pay of a 
Senator living in Washington is soon eaten up by necessary 
expenses. I have heard of but one human being who ever 
honestly saved up money out of a salary in Washington, and 
that one was President Hayes, and he is said to have done it 
chiefly by giving his guests at dinner only water to drink. 
Moreover, if Hampton had a cent in his pocket it would go 
out to the first friend who told him he needed it. So it 
was that non-election to the Senate meant for him not only 
the end of honorable ambition and influence, and the agree- 
able sense of being useful to his people, but also left him in 
straightened circumstances. This latter condition was 
relieved, for the time being, by the railroad commissioner- 
ship, but when that ceased, he was pretty much "high and 
dry" in a monetary point of view, and then about eighty 
years of age, though vigorous in mind and body. 

It is unquestionably true that it was not any of the above 
considerations, or all combined, which hurt him most griev- 
ously. It was the fact that his people, so many of his people, 
all of whom he loved, and who, as he thought up to that time, 
loved him, should do this thing to him in his old age. It was 
the personal grief for this that burned in so deeply ; not the 
loss of political position and the means of subsistence. The 
latter he bore with a smiling face: no stoic more imperturb- 
able, but his was the cheerful, genial way of taking it. The 
other was a deep wound, a wound given by a loved hand, but 
it elicited no remonstrance nor reproach, and left absolutely 
no bitterness behind : his heart was incapable of that. It 
was not done to him from lack of love. Old soldiers came to 
him before the election, almost or quite with tears in their 
eyes, and swore they would do anything in the world for him, 
except vote for him, and that they could not do, because of 
party fealty. If before his end he could have been sure that 
his people, one and all, loved him, as they did "beneath Vir- 
ginia's sky," and in 1876-77, poverty, physical pain, and loss 



Declining Years and Death 213 

of power would have been accounted but little. If he could 
have witnessed that grand spontaneous demonstration from 
the people's heart in Columbia at his funeral, he would have 
known it. 

Charleston never wavered. The delegation from there 
voted on each ballot in the Legislature unanimously for him 
at the election, save one member. Whenever he came to 
Charleston, it was the signal for an ovation. 

Let others hall the rising sun ; 
I bow to that whose course Is run. 

Always at the railroad station he would be met by a detach- 
ment from the Charleston Light Dragoons, as an escort 
during his stay, a crack militia company, formerly a "sabre- 
club" during the Inferno, before that a war-company serv- 
ing under Hampton, and during the Revolution of 1776 
and previously a military organization. "Hampton Day," 
which was celebrated at this period, will long be remembered 
as expressing an outburst of devotion seldom equaled, and 
which had no possible connection with politics and office- 
seeking. 

As we have said, it is not the scheme of this book to recount 
Hampton's political career during the two Senatorial terms 
which he served as that would involve the discussion of 
national questions requiring too much space. But inasmuch 
as his political course was ended and the rest of his life 
darkened by the stand which he took upon the financial ques- 
tion and the subjects of minor importance constituting the 
system of which that was the central sun, it would be im- 
proper to avoid examining his record to ascertain whether 
he was right or wrong on that issue, and his treatment 
of it in reference to himself. If we conclude that he was 
wrong, then, although feeling equal sympathy for the dis- 
tress caused to him, yet we should consider that he had 
unfortunately brought his misfortunes upon himself by a 
deplorable error of judgment. If, on the other hand, we find 
on investigation that he was right in acting as he did and, 
believing himself right, followed the dictates of conscience 
hand-in-hand with correct judgment, fully knowing the disas- 
trous consequences to himself which would ensue, then we 



214 Hampton and Reconstruction 

must admire him as an upright statesman, as distinguished 
from a selfish politician. In making this investigation it is 
not necessary to go into local political questions, but better 
to confine ourselves to the great central subject, the sun of 
the system, finance. 

We can now consider the currency controversy, as far as 
silver and gold are concerned, as definitely settled, and it is 
so recent that the details are familiar to everyone. Results 
have proved that the advocates of 'unlimited silver" were 
wrong, for what they predicted as the consequences of the 
adoption of the gold standard has not occurred. The far- 
mer, in particular, instead of being ruined as foretold, is 
(as we write this) receiving and has been receiving for a 
long time a hundred per cent, more money for his cotton, 
nearly in the same proportion for wheat and measurably more 
for other products. Whether this has been brought about by 
the adoption of the gold standard as a definite cause, or 
whether only because the settlement of that "burning" ques- 
tion has relieved the strain and anxiety existing — without 
justification, if you like, and sentimentally — is an entirely 
immaterial academic question. Legislation on finance which 
ignores the sentiment of those best informed, might be very 
fine in the abstract, and disastrous practically. What is a 
panic but the result of sentiment? Everything purchasable 
is intrinsically worth as much the week after, as the week 
before, a panic, and there is the same quantity of money exist- 
ing; but credit is impaired, sentiment is to the fore, and the 
important point for the business man and the farmer is 
not intrinsic, but market values, where compelled to sell. 
It is idle, of course, to argue against the logic of facts, for 
facts only are important. It is quite easy to perceive this 
now, that it has hapened, but the difficulty was correctly 
to foresee it, and that was the part of a statesman to do. 
Hampton did this, in spite of opposite opinions being held 
by the majority of his constituents on this and related sub- 
jects. But was he right by chance, or through the exercise 
of good judgment? I think it will be found clearly to be 
by the latter. 



Declining Years and Death 215 

The commercial life of this country — "business" — is de- 
pendent ultimately on the agricultural conditions and, there- 
fore, if they are permanently bad, "business" cannot for long 
be prosperous. Everyone is in "business" for purely selfish 
motives, to make a support for himself and his family, or to 
acquire property. All such persons can therefore be trusted 
not to advocate, knowingly, legislation which, without bene- 
fitting them exceptionally, bids fair to injure the general 
"business" situation of the community. Moreover, such per- 
sons must necessarily be better able to judge what kind of 
financial legislation will or will not be favorable to "busi- 
ness" interests than will those totally unacquainted with the 
subject in its practical bearings, however well informed 
academically. What is beneficial to general legitimate "busi- 
ness" interests must also, in the long run, be advantageous, 
in such a country as this, to the agricultural interests upon 
which commerce — "business" — is based. In a question de- 
veloping such an angry controversy as that between "gold- 
bugs," and "silverites," it must be a man more bold than 
wise who would shut himself up in his study in order to 
decide, according to abstract principles, which side was in 
the right; if wise, and not a "know it all," he would obtain 
the opinions of "business men," who could have no interested 
motive in deceiving him, and he would give decisive weight 
to such views. If it were important to obtain for your 
guidance some practical information about an agricultural 
matter, you would expect to apply not to a doctor of divinity 
nor a financier nor a lawyer nor a "business man," who 
had never seen cotton except in bales, or wheat, unless in 
bread, but to farmers, who could be depended upon to tell 
you the truth according to their own knowledge. The same 
reasoning applies to finance as to farming, and it is difficult 
to comprehend why we should have sat at the feet of a lawyer 
and politician as a monetary Gamaliel. I think it was upon 
these principles that Hampton acted in the currency battle, 
and that it was because of this, and not through chance, that 
he proved right, and that by doing so he showed himself a 
statesman instead of a political charlatan. If he had been 
capable of putting aside conscientiously entertained opinions 



216 Hampton and Reconstruction 

for the sake of self-interest, and joined in that hightlj intel- 
lectual refrain once blazoned on banners, "sixteen to one, or 
bust," he could have remained undisturbed in the Senate 
for the rest of his life. Probably he could have gained the 
same personal end merely by the desertion of his friends and 
by remaining non-committal on vexed questions, but this he 
was also incapable of doing, not being "built on those lines." 

In short he acted with wisdom, found the right path, and 
unflinchingly pursued that path, because it was right, know- 
ing all the time that it led to the precipice of personal ruin. 
Of how many statesmen can this be said? 

In the spring of 1899 General Hampton was engaged to 
come to Charleston to take a prominent part in a general 
meeting of Confederate Veterans, and was to be the guest 
while there of a friend. Just at that time his house, a short 
distance out of Columbia, and beyond the reach of fire- 
engines, caught fire and was burned to the ground. All his 
household goods were destroyed, nearly all his effects, 
and almost every personal article he possessed, including 
valuable papers — original documents — the loss of which was 
irreparable. He hardly more than saved the clothes which he 
was wearing. It is needless to remind the reader that his 
purse was also depleted before this. He was at this time in 
his eighty-second year. It was feared that this last mis- 
fortune, added to the burden wliich fate had been indus- 
triously piling upon him, might crush down, more or less, 
even his indomitable spirit. His friend, who had been 
expecting him as his guest at the reunion, wrote to him in 
some anxiety, and received a reply from which the following 
is an extract : 

"I have saved some clothes, my gun, and fishing-tackle. 
We are in an outhouse, quite comfortable. If I had only 
saved my tent, I would be all right." 

To another friend, who had written expressing the hope 
that he would make his promised visit, in spite of his fresh 
misfortune, he wrote : 

"You see that I know you better than you did me, or you 
would never have expressed a doubt about my coming to 
Chai"leston. Did you ever know me to keep out of a fight 



Declining Years and Death 217 

because one of my staff was ill? I shall fight the fight out to 
the end, for, as I wrote today, a fight is never lost, until its 
close." 

The General came to Charleston, as had been previously 
arranged, and, in spite of being stripped of everything, ex- 
hibited the same dignity, urbanity, and geniality, as if 
nothing unusual had happened. He met his numerous 
friends and old comrades with a pleasure which was unmis- 
takably genuine and not forced. He was never known to be 
more attractive and lovable. A genuine outburst of enthusi- 
astic welcome greeted his appearance, whenever seen, not 
only from the inhabitants of his own State, but from every 
man, woman, and child, who looked upon the grand figure, 
more grand to their eyes in old age, bereft of everything but 
dignity, honor, and glory, than even when leading victorious 
squadrons, or standing the champion and sentinel of a peo- 
ple's redemption. In the procession he rode at the head of 
the old fellows of the Army of Northern Virginia, and as the 
immense column passed along the streets crowded from 
sidewalk to housetops, a wave of cheers from the throats of 
men and boys, and wild plaudits from the lips of women and 
little girls, rent the air, as his figure loomed up. A fine horse 
had been provided for him, but it was high-spirited and had 
not been exercised for several days, and at the unaccustomed 
sights and sounds would plunge and rear in a manner to have 
disconcerted many a younger man, but Hampton sat him 
with all the accustomed grace of a fine horseman. 

In delivering a speech in the early part of the Spanish war, 
he recommended the men of the State to look to it that their 
quota of troops should be furnished and of proper material. 
Not that he was in favor of any but purely defensive wars, 
but that war was already commenced — the country was com- 
mitted to it — and, besides, every breeze that blew from Cuba 
brought to our ears the heart-rending cries for help from the 
lips of women and babes herded like wild beasts in the death- 
pens called concentration camps. Little did we think then 
that humanity and natural sympathy for the sufferers there 
would be perverted by ambitious politicians into a similar 
war in the Philippines. Besides, a purely defensive war is not 



218 Hampton and Reconstruction 

necessarily, and should not be, fought on our own soil, but on 
that of the enemy. If indeed "war is hell," then let the pande- 
monium not be at our own doors. If, unhappily, we are ever 
involved in war with England, for instance, it would be 
the dictate of common sense, as well as of military prudence, 
to transfer the theatre to Canada. And a defensive war may 
verj' well compel us to protect the soil of these two continents 
from the aggressions of the buccaneers of Europe attempting 
to transplant in the Americas those antiquated relics of bar- 
barism, imperial policies and standing armies. But God for- 
bid all aggressive wars for "trade." It will be a sad day for 
our country if our President adopts that programme, for 
he is young and knows not what war really is, with all its 
unmentionable horrors, physical and moral. He is brave — 
no doubt will be found so, if ever tested — but it will not be 
he, but your boys, who will die miserably in the trenches and 
rot in the hospitals. This is real ivar: 

"Tis a vision of ghastly faces, 

All pallid and worn with pain, 
Where the splendor of manful graces, 

Shines dim through a scarlet rain : — 

In a wild and wierd procession 

They sweep by my startled eyes. 
And stern with their fate's fruition. 

Seem melting in blood-red skies. 

Or this (referring to South Africa, the "Christian Nations" 
in China, and the Philippines), 

The gates of mercy shall be all shut up. 

And the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart, 

In liberty of bloody hand shall range 

With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass 

Your fresh fair virgins and your flowering infants. 

What is it then to me, if impious war, 

Array'd in flames, like to the prince of fiends. 

Do, with his smirched complexion, all fell feats 

Enlik'd to waste and desolation? 

The Spanish War was not a real war at all, whatever some 
others may think from experiences in one or two skirmishes. 
It was merely a mobilization, as far as it went — a military 
demonstration — which had the desired effect, but it was not 
war. I know of an old soldier of four years' battles' teach- 
ings, and bearing the marks of the lessons engraved by bullets 



Declining Years and Death 219 

on his body, meeting a "veteran of the Spanish War," and 
the latter, to malie himself agreeable, claimed comradeship 
as a "veteran." The old man looked surprised, and then 
asked how that could be, for he was too young. 

"I am a veteran of the Spanish War," explained the youth. 

The old fellow looked at him for a moment in astonish- 
ment, and then remarked, in a low tone to himself : 

"My God!" 

Only those two words, but they expressed a world of pre- 
monition for the future to the unknowing present. 

Shortly after the loss, a movement was set on foot to 
rebuild by public contributions General Hampton's house 
destroyed by fire. It was a spontaneous idea direct from the 
heart, prompted by universal regard and sympathy. The 
General was greatly touched by this evidence of feeling, but 
was unwilling that the project should be carried out, and, in 
order to let this be known to the public, wrote the following 
letter : 
''To the People of the State : 

"My duties during the past week at the Reunion in 
Charleston left me no opportunity of expressing to my 
friends my grateful sense of the spontaneous and almost 
universal sympathy shown by them for the loss I have 
recently sustained by fire. Let me now assure them that I 
am profoundly touched by their manifestation of kindness 
and by the proposal to rebuild my house. 

"But they must pardon me for asking them to abandon this 
intended act of kindness, though the motives which prompt 
it are fully and gratefully appreciated. I cannot accept 
from my friends a testimonial of regard such as they propose ; 
but the affection shown by them in wishing to reimburse me 
for my loss can never be forgotten, for it is prized by me 
far more than any gift from them could ever be. 

"It is the duty of every citizen to serve his State whenever 
called on to do so, and his sole reward should be the con- 
sciousness of having fulfilled that obligation. If my fellow- 
citizens think, that I have ever been able to serve my State 
in any manner, I only discharged my duty in doing so, and 



220 ■ Hampton and Reconstruction 

I am amply compensated for any services rendered by their 
verdict of 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' 

"I am, with heartfelt thanks for the great kindness shown 
me, Your fellow-citizen, 

"Wade Hampton." 

This frank, manly, and dignified letter went home to all 
friends and neighbors and to the people at large, and also 
made a strong impression at the North, as evidenced by the 
comments of the press. It is a pleasure to say, however, that 
the project was carried out. It was thought better, instead 
of rebuilding the burned house, to buy a lot and erect a home 
for him in Columbia, because of his age making it advisable 
that he should be nearer to his friends and their personal 
attentions. In the residence thus provided he commenced 
his last sleep. 

During the Boer War General Hampton, like nearly all 
Americans, sympathized with the heroic struggle of the 
South African Republics to maintain their liberty and inde- 
pendence. The New York Herald wrote a letter to him and 
to one or two others of the most eminent surviving officers of 
the Confederate Army, asking their views as to the best 
course for Roberts to pursue in his efforts to crush out the 
Republics. The General replied that he thought the best 
thing Roberts could do was to reembark his troops and take 
them home to England. 

During the winter and spring of 1902 Mr. Roosevelt gave 
evidence of a desire to build up a respectable Republican 
party in South Carolina and some other States where it did 
not then exist, owing to the odium earned by the name during 
Reconstruction and for other reasons. In pursuance of this 
policy, some citizens of good standing in South Carolina 
were induced to take local Federal offices and it looked as 
if considerable headway would be made in that direction, and 
probably it would have been so if other considerations had 
not caused a change in the plans of the powers that be. 
Mr. McKinley's tactfulness and good nature, in connection 
with other circumstances, had produced a profound and 
widespread impression throughout the country, and by no 
means least at the South, where his murder by an execrable 



Declining Years and Death 221 

assassin was regarded as a special misfortune to that section, 
not of course as great as that of Lincoln's, but of the same 
nature. There had never been a time since the contest of 
1861-65 when sectional ill-feeling had apparently so entirely 
disappeared and when there seemed to be so good a prospect 
of political affairs throughout the country resuming the nor- 
mal conditions prevailing before the troubles of 1861, and the 
causes producing them, which latter had for long ceased to 
exist. Nor has there even been a period w^hen race-antagonism 
disappeared so completely at the South since the time when 
it was created by the Keconstruction Acts. Under the move- 
ment started in South Carolina by Mr. Roosevelt, who was 
at that time considered the heir to the policies and good will 
of Mr. McKinley, it was well understood that there was to 
be no political miscegenation, but that negrophilism, as a 
demagogical instrument, should disappear from politics, as 
sensible people, not seeking office, think it should do, for the 
good of both races, particularly of the negro. It was given 
out that there would be a divorce of politics from the negro 
(including an '^a mensa" separation). It was understood 
that Mr. Roosevelt agreed that men of character accepting 
local Federal appointments would not thus, in any sense, 
be associated with negroes or mulattoes, for that he would 
appoint none except whites to important positions, thus 
recognizing the fundamental principle of representative gov- 
ernment in selecting officials truly representative of the 
individuals and the interests of their constituencies. He 
certainly was believed to mean this, as attested by those 
whose assertions admit of no doubt but how far this can be 
reconciled to the nomination for Collector of the Port of 
Charleston of a mulatto unknown to commerce, the writer 
is unable to explain. It is manifest that the immediate suc- 
cess of such a movement as that referred to would very 
largely, if not altogether, depend upon the character, stand- 
ing, and public influence of the appointees. If General 
Hampton could have been induced thus to take office, that 
would alone have gone a very long way to remove any politi- 
cal or social discredit which might otherwise attach to those 
doing the same thing, for there were many waverers who by 



222 Hampton and Reconsteuction 

this would be turned into advocates. There were more indi- 
viduals than it can elsewhere be believed who would have sac- 
rificed their own judgment in following his, having always 
found him right in the end; and the adverse criticism of a 
large number would have been silenced, even if they did not 
follow him, and the hostile comments of the rest would have 
been moderated out of respect to the old chief. It would 
therefore have been a trump card in the game, and the game, 
provided the national policies of the party in power could be 
relished, or even tolerated, would commend itself to a large 
circle, particularly among the young, whose memories did 
not extend far back. Beside the desire and evident advan- 
tage of obtaining General Hampton's sanction, there is no 
doubt but that kindly feeling toward him, in old age and 
adversity stripped to the blast, played a considerable part 
with those conducting the programme and not least with the 
President. 

I do not use here any information whatever derived from 
General Hampton, but, knowing his traits of character, it is 
not difficult to picture to one's self the interview between 
him and the friend deputed to sound him upon the subject of 
his accepting the appointment of postmaster at Columbia. 
One can imagine the old General, with clear, frank, wise eyes, 
and open countenance, upon which he who runs could read 
honor and good faith above all else, sitting in his arm-chair 
in his residence, a gift from the hearts of his people. His 
manner, always urbane and kindly, would probably be 
warmer than usual, as he listened to the proposition, for he 
would feel the good will manifested toward himself in it, 
combined with the political purpose, and his reply, though 
short and epigramatic, must have been, we can feel sure, 
totally free from harshness. Then one cannot be at a loss 
as to the way in which the case was presented to him and the 
arguments in its favor: among other things, it would be 
said how much it would benefit the State and the South, 
thus eliminating the negro as the football of politics; how 
advisable it would be to have two legitimate parties in the 
State, thus removing all sectional friction, as was the case in 
normal times before the War and Reconstruction upset 



Declining Years and Death 223 

everything: perhaps, in this connection, would be quoted 
the lines of Burke — certainly their purport would — that, "He 
that wrestles with us, strengthens our nerves, and sharpens 
our skill. Our antagonist is our helper"; then it would be 
urged that if a respectable administration party existed in 
the State she would no longer be always treated as a badly- 
behaved step-child, but would enjoy some of the advantages 
and favors, the bon-bons and nice things and kisses now 
monopolized by her dear half-sisters, who come in after 
dinner so sweet in pretty frocks ; then, too, natives, or legiti- 
mate residents, would receive the emoluments of office, 
instead of, as hitherto, negroes and "carpet-baggers," and the 
State would have a voice at Washington. He would be 
assured that, if he accepted the office, he would not be 
expected to take any more prominence in the movement than 
he desired; it was only his name that was asked for. No 
doubt, and with full sincerity, the pleasure felt at conferring 
so deserved an evidence of appreciation upon him, and the 
greater pleasure in thinking it would increase the comfort — 
or, rather, remove the sordid, pinching worries — of his old 
age, would be referred to. Knowing the General, anyone 
would be fully aware that the latter consideration would 
not influence his decision in the slightest; that, though he 
would give due weight — for the sake of his people's good — to 
much (that is true) in the other arguments, yet his experi- 
ence and wisdom had taught him to "put not your trust in 
princes," and that there are vows, other than those of lovers, 
which are "made to be broken." But beside and beyond and 
paramount to all this, we know that he was unalterably op- 
posed to some of the principal national policies of the 
dominant party, including mountain-high protective tariff 
and militarism, and that, though liberal and entirely tolerant 
of the opinions of others adverse to his own, yet his were 
unchangeable, because founded on the rock of conviction. 
Probably, added to convictions, would be the sentiment to- 
ward the other party as one, though on occasions for a time 
erring in mental balance, which had yet never been heartless 
and criminal ; had never sought to degrade, for political gain. 



224 Hampton and Reconstruction 

the cherished ideals of our race under the veil of pseudo- 
philanthropy. 

One does not wonder at all, then, after listening to all, 
said judiciously and in a kindly, friendly spirit, his answer 
came unhesitatingly : 

'Tlease tell them that I am not for sale." 

And yet he was then in straightened circumstances, and 
the salary attached to the office would have made him com- 
fortable for the rest of his life — probably would have much 
prolonged it. 

Late in December, 1901, General Hampton came to 
Charleston to attend a meeting there — the last public meet- 
ing he ever attended — of the old alumni of Columbia College, 
his alma mater. He was the oldest living alumnus there. 
The reunion with so many old friends was a great pleasure 
to them and to him, but he took a cold from which he appears 
never to have entirely recovered. In the following spring he 
became very ill, but bore up with so much courage and en- 
durance that it w^as not until almost the end that his life 
was despaired of. On the morning of April 11, he succumbed. 

To say that this event produced a profound sensation 
would not properly describe its effect. In Columbia, his 
home, and in Charleston, his birthplace, both of which had 
been unwaveringly devoted to him, and in many other places 
in the State and in families in the country, his death was felt 
as a personal bereavement, and among his old soldiers there 
was a still warmer hold of affection. At this time, the 
hearts of those who had been estranged from him politically 
went back to their love with a fervor of grief — or, more 
correctly speaking, the sentiment always within their hearts, 
now found vent in deep and earnest sorrow. Those for 
whom the miseries of Reconstruction had still a vivid mem- 
ory acclaimed their sense of gratitude for inestimable ser- 
vices rendered, and the men intimately associated with him 
in those times wrote eloquent and touching tributes to the 
great statesman and pacificator. From other Southern 
States, through the press and otherwise, poured expressions 
of sorrow and appreciation no less sincere. The newspapers 
of the North, without an important exception, showed the 



Declining Years and Death 225 

common heart-beat of a people comprehending, in great meas- 
ure, the man, his noble character, and grand achievements. 

It is a coincidence, that April 11 was the anniversary of the 
day in 1877, when the State House was delivered to him, thus 
rendering into his hands the last vestige of alien and negro 
rule. 

On the day after his death memorial services were held at 
two churches in Charleston and at the Exposition grounds 
(now Hampton Park) . Flags were at half-mast, even on the 
Federal buildings, and many places were draped in mourning. 
The same was true as to Columbia. In Charleston the courts 
adjourned, and Saturday was observed by proclamation of the 
Governor as a day of mourning, business houses being closed. 
Public societies and institutions held meetings and passed 
appropriate resolutions. There were sympathetic and appre- 
ciative utterances of public men throughout the country. 
General Longstreet said of him that he was "the greatest 
natural cavalry leader of our own or any other country." 

Several days before his death he had a long talk with 
Bishop Capers. Among other things he then said, "Prom my 
heart I forgive all my enemies, if there are any men in South 
Carolina who are my enemies," 

His mind was invariably clear up to twenty-four hours 
before the end, but during the last of that period he was 
unconscious frequently, or seemed so. He said in one of 
these intervals, "God bless all my people, black ar'^ white." 
Another time he was whispering something, and the watchers 
stooped over to listen. They caught the words, "All is 
black — My children on the field — Heroes forever! forever!" 
They asked if he meant his sons, Preston and Wade. He 
nodded his head in assent. They thought his mind wander- 
ing. Not so, it seemed to me. In the moment of death, his 
heart had flown back thirty-eight years and was on the battle- 
field of Burgess Mill with his two boys, one mortally 
wounded, the other he knew not how desperately, although 
he afterward recovered. Both had been sent to Richmond 
to the hospital ; and the night closed down dark, dismal, and 
rainy, as he lay all the weary hours awake waiting for the 



226 Hampton and Reconstruction 

morning to renew the fight, and thinking meantime unceas- 
ingly of those poor boys of his; and now the father's heart 
was with them again, both dead now, he knows, but "heroes 
forever! forever!" Or were they then meeting again and 
lovingly greeting, just across the border-line — who can say? 
The General's death could not but be a sorrow to all and 
bring a keen pang to his old soldiers and personal friends, 
and who, that kncAv him at all, was not among the latter? 
But in very trutli 

Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail, 

and naught for 

Dispraise or blame — nothing but well and fair, 
And what may quiet us in a death so noble. 

Yes, all this and much more can be said. He was in his 
85th year, weighted down with many troubles. It could not 
be expected that his magnificent vitality could much longer 
remain unimpaired and few things can be more humiliating 
to a proud, high-spirited man, accustomed to tower above his 
fellows, than the consciousness of seriously diminished 
strength of mind and body, and this he was spared. But, 
above all, he died with a consciousness that would compensate 
anyone, if need be, for a death of torture, for to him had been 
given to perfect a record not only of almost unparalleled per- 
sonal glory and honor, but which would for all time redound 
to the benefit of his whole country, and be a lasting and price- 
less heritage to all, if fully comprehended. Up to middle-life 
he had well-performed the duties of a man born to wealth and 
social and political importance, and had illumined with a 
light that detraction can never dim the true relation of master 
and slave. In short, he had fully come up to the most exalted 
standard of the much-abused, but very significant "grand old 
name of gentleman." In a war purely defensive, he had 
reached a height in his branch of the service certainly 
exceeded, if equaled, by none (attained — if attained — by no 
man but Forrest). But even this was the least of it, for, as 
leader, he had proved that, with proper discipline, the saying, 
"war is hell," is not correct in the sense intended, and the 
accepting it as correct tends to blunt the public conscience. 
"War is hell," as far as the miseries of battle-field, picket, 



Declining Years and Death 227 

and hospital are concerned, and still more for the broken 
hearts at home. It is for this reason that war, for aught 
save defense, is only wholesale murder. But the inferno 
beyond this is within the control of the commander, and 
in Hampton's case this control was inexorably exercised. 
Amiable and kindly he undoubtedly was, but no willful dis- 
obedience of important orders was tolerated, and therefore 
the persons and property of non-combatants were sacred to 
his men, as witness the Chambersburg raid, the Gettysburg 
campaign, and others. I never knew or heard of but one 
occasion on which a life of one man of his own (Butler's) 
division was lost through disobedience of orders, and that 
occurred when a farmer's field was pillaged of corn to feed a 
favorite horse, and the boy was shot in the act by the sentry, 
which was a reminder to the troopers that they w^ere soldiers, 
not schoolboys. In the campaign of 1865 in the Carolinas, 
orders (now on record) were issued to shoot all men, in what- 
ever uniform dressed, found maltreating women, or mali- 
ciously setting fire to inhabited dwelling-houses, and this was 
done, and "hell" ameliorated as to its most demon-like doings, 
an example thus set in the nineteenth century which the twen- 
tieth would do well to follow. Hampton demonstrated, for 
all time, that men can be soldiers and at the same time con- 
scientious, and that any General can make them so, if he 
desires. 

If Hampton could look back upon his military record with 
a feeling of undying glory earned that would compensate for 
a thousand deaths, even more, perhaps, would his soul rejoice 
at the end in, possibly, the greater glory won in the battle 
for peace in 1876-7, the life and death struggle of a section 
of the Anglo-Saxon race? In his career in the United States 
Senate he knew that he served his people well and faithfully, 
and his private life, after his political career was ended, he 
could not but realize was a model of fortitude and dignity 
under great stress, as well as of sweetness of disposition and 
charm of character. Knowing all this, how could there be 
for him a "sting" to death? It was simply an order to the 
great soul to mount for the final review of the Supreme Com- 
mander-in-Chief, whose will no man had more thoroughly 
obeyed. 



228 Hampton and Reconstruction 

The funeral was to take place at Columbia on Sunday, 
April 13. By his dying request, it was not to be a military 
funeral. It proved to be the largest gathering of mourners 
ever witnessed in South Carolina, larger even than the 
demonstration at Calhoun's death. It was estimated that 
there were fully twenty thousand persons present, a consider- 
able percentage of whom were blacks. When it is remem- 
bered that Columbia was not a large city, and the distance 
which strangers must travel to reach there, the number 
attending will be realized to have been great. Special trains 
were run from Charleston and other points to Columbia. 
His residence, where the hodj lay in state all day imbedded 
in the sweetest flowers of spring, was visited by thousands, 
and many a pathetic scene was enacted at this last farewell 
to the old General. Perhaps, in order to give some idea of 
the gathering, I had better simply insert a letter written just 
after returning from the funeral and published in the News 
and Courier. 

"Like thousands of others, I went to Columbia last Sunday 
to be present at the funeral of the General. 

"Hundreds were coming in by the railroads, and the town 
was full of those, who had come there from all parts of this 
State and neighboring States, and more distant places, all 
for the same purpose, induced by the same feeling of respect, 
admiration, gratitude to the man. There could have been no 
selfish, sordid motive for this — no trail of the dollar, or 
political lust — for he died poor, to his immortal honor. Even 
a man, whose name not long since was but a synonym for 
political opposition to Hampton, had come — to his eternal 
credit be it said — to pay the last mark of respect to the Ge:^- 
eral. 

"Whites and blacks thronged the streets, drawn together 
by a common sentiment. Children dressed in their best, and 
with grave, thoughtful little faces, added to the self-evident 
sincerity of the universal mourning. When the time came 
for the funeral procession to move from the house to the 
church, where the services were to take place, it is believed 
fully twenty thousand people were present. The hearse was 
driven by a negro with snow-white hair, who had belonged to 



Declining Years and Death 229 

the General ever since he was born, and to whom 'freedom' 
had never meant estrangement and forgetfulness of life-long 
kindness received. 

"In the procession everyone, men and women, the richest 
and the poorest, all walked — a horse was not to be seen, 
except those attached to the hearse, or drawing the carriages 
in which, for obvious reasons, the immediate family were 
placed. There were present old soldiers of historic renown, 
matrons and young girls. All along each side of the street, 
as we passed to the church, was a mass of grave, sympathetic 
faces. 

"I did a lot of thinking during that short walk. I had seen 
in my time a good many public functions, where so-called 
'tributes' were paid 'the nation's dead,' but never such a scene 
as this, Avhere sincerity was shown in every face. 

"As we passed by the pretty residences and charming 
grounds, evidences of thrift and prosperity, and remembered 
that if it were not a Sunday, the air would be throbbing with 
the hum of thousands of busy spindles, I thought, if it had 
not been for Hampton in the crisis of Reconstruction, these 
things would not now be. 

"And I could not help thinking of a bright moonlight night 
many, many years ago, when, with one comrade only, I rode 
through the deserted streets of Columbia, the only sound 
that of our horses' hoofs, the only sights naked chimneys 
against the sky, and blackened ruins, and I reflected,]t/i(i* 
was Sherman's work, 'War is Hell' ; this is Hampton's work, 
the peace of God. 

"We entered the church, every space of which was filled by 
those who had come for the common purpose. And flowers 
everywhere, the sweet flowers of the Southern spring, taste- 
fully arranged and made into artistic garlands by the loving 
hands of women. The impressive services soon began. 
Bishop Capers, a gallant and distinguished soldier of the 
Southern Cross, and an intimate friend of the General, 
officiated. At times his voice trembled with feeling he could 
not repress. The chancel was filled with the choristers, girls 
and boys, and their sweet young voices and the solemn wails 



230 Hampton and Reconstruction 

of the organ, made the heart thrill. The very crucifix at the 
altar seemed to shine with a light I had never seen before. 

"I am not an emotional man — far from it — and with Anglo- 
Saxon shame-facedness of betraying any external evidences of 
feeling, but I did much thinking. I thought of Hampton, my 
beau ideal of a true soldier, in the days of my boyhood; of 
some of his superb military movements in Virginia, which I, 
with thousands of better men, had witnessed; of Hampton, 
like a paladin of romance, charging almost single-handed an 
entire company, killing three with his own hand, chasing the 
fugitives within the lines of their own army; of Hampton, 
one misty morning at gray dawn, putting into operation a 
consummately conceived plan to blot out with an inferior 
force Kilpatrick's entire Cavalry Corps ; of Hampton sweep- 
ing over Kilpatrick's camp in a charge like an avalanche 
from the mountains, the most terrible cavalry charge, as 
Kilpatrick said in his oflflcial report, that he had ever wit- 
nessed. 

"Then I recalled Hampton in his glorious old age, shorn 
of Avealth, deprived of political power or influence in his own 
State, escaping from his burnt homo, with all his household 
gods and comforts lost, and yet with undiminished courage 
and unfailing fortitude, and always ready with a charming 
smile and handshake for the poorest of his old soldiers and 
by example thus exerting a wide-spread influence for good. 

"Thinking of all these things, I realized that others too — 
thousands — were then having similar thoughts, and that the 
memory of Hampton was a mutual bond between us all, a 
common ground upon which all good men can meet in sym- 
fjathy, whatever may be their politics. And it seemed to me, 
without exaggeration, that the soul of Hampton was present 
and spoke in the music of the organ his dying words, 'May 
God bless all my people, black and white,' and that 'all his 
people' should unite in raising a monument to be the outward 
and visible sign of his perpetual influence for good. 

"I was very much pleased to learn after leaving the church- 
yard, that a movement was contemplated [which has since 
developed into action] to erect a bronze e(iuestrian statue of 
Hampton in Columbia. It seems especially appropriate that 



Declining Years and Death 231 

Columbia, the Capital, should thus commemorate the mili- 
tary immortality of Hampton, leaving to Charleston, acting 
for the people of the State and of the United States, to per- 
petuate by a memorial his career as a statesman, who rescued 
from destruction civil liberty." 

In the churchyard, beneath a venerable live-oak, sur- 
rounded with the flowers he loved, they laid all that was 
mortal of him to rest. Obeying his wish, there was no mili- 
tary pageant, but around his grave were some of "the old 
Division" (Butler's), who performed the last offices fo their 
General, 

And drooping low in solemn trail, 

All battle-stained, and bullet-torn, 
More plaintive far than human wail, 

Hung banners oft in triumph borne ! 

and from a bugle was sounded the last farewell. 

Whose was the hand, that painted thee, O Death ! 
In the false aspect of a ruthless foe. 
Despair and sorrow waiting on thy breath — 

O! gentle Power, who could have wronged thee so? 



Index 



Page 

Acquisition of Louisiana Territory 8, 9 

Baljer, Major. T. G 38, 39, 40, 41 

Battles : 

Brandy Station 41 

Burgess Mill 55,56,57,58, 59 

Five Forks, 55, 57, 59 ; Letter from Lee 60 

Gettysburg 42 

Kilpatricli's Camp 62,63,64, 65 

Manassas 38, 39, 40 

New Orleans 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 

Trevllian 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 

Board of Canvassers of the State 148, 150, 152 

Bond, U. S. Circuit Judge Hugh S 152, 154 

Bradley, Justice of the United States Supreme Court — "Eight to Seven".. .. 154 

Burgess, Professor 77 

Burning of Columbia 61, 62 

Butler, Major General M. C. 

At Trevilian 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 

At Burgess Mill 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 

At Kiipatrick's Camp 62,63,64, 65 

Nominates Hampton for Governor 108, 134 

Elected United States Senator 171 

Accompanies Hampton to Washington 193, 194, 202 

Breakfasts with General Lee 21, 22, 23 

Cainhoy Riots 135, 137 

Cameron, Secretary of War 154, 164, 184 

Cattle Raid 53, 54, 55 

Chambersburg Raid 41, 42 

Chamberlain, Daniel H. — 

Opinion of the Constitutional Convention 88 

Governor from 1874 to 1876 91 

Antecedents 91 

Description of a constituency similar to his 95, 96, 97 

His account of the condition of the State in 1876 97, 103, 104 

Vetoes 104 

Whipper-Moses Judgeship incident 105 

Delegate to the Republican National Convention 106 

His "boom" 106,107, 108 

His opinion of the result, if he had been elected 113 

United States troops 118 

Nominated for Governor in 1876 123 

His letter to Grant, and Grant's reply promising troops 126 

Calls upon Grant for troops, as per agreement 133 

Calls for more troops 155 

Seizes State House with troops 156 

Asks protection from Hampton 157 

"Counted in" by the bogus Houses 165 

Title considered 166 

Cross-examined by Senate Committee 178 



234 Index 

Chamberlain, Daniel H. — (Continued) Page 

Says that he was in personal danger 189 

Surrenders State House 195 

"Colored race" 79, 80, 81 

Conner, Brigadier General James — 

Opinion of Hampton 30 

At Manassas 39 

Nominated for Attorney General 109, 193 

Columbia, burning of , 61, 62 

Combahee Riots 130 

Conservatives appeal against Carpet-bag Constitution 88 

Corbin. United States District Attorney 133, 150, 178, 197 

Criminal assaults on women Conclusion of Chapter IV. 

Cromwell, Oliver — 

Military similarity in some points to Hampton 34-35, 114 

Davis, David, Justice of the Supreme Court of the U. S 153 

Davis, President Jefferson 65-67, 111 

Dahlgren Raid 42, 43, 44 

Dawson, F. W 182 

Electoral Commission 153, 182, 186 

"Eleventh Commandment" 203 

Ellenton Riots 130. 131, 132 

Trials 197 

Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of the State 106, 164, 180 

Fayetteville charge 19, 20 

Ferry, President of U. S. Senate 177 

Fish. Secretary of State , 167 

Five Forks — Letter from Lee to Hampton 60 

Force Bill — Hampton's speech 29, 30 

Gettysburg 42 

Ghent, Treaty of 8, 9 

Gordon, U. S. Senator John B 168, 164, 177, 184, 187, 188, 193 

Grant, Ulysses S. — 

Breaking up of Louisiana Legislature by soldiers 102 

Letter to Chamberlain promising troops in 1876 126 

Unanimously endorsed for a third term by Convention of the Republican 

Party of South Carolina 128 

His desire for a third term and its influence on his conduct 128 

Furnishes troops to Chamberlain, as agreed 133 

Troops 155 

Sends 600 more troops to Columbia 167, 183 

Forbids celebration of Washington's Birthday 184, 185, 186 

Green, John S 91 

Hampton. Anthony 2 

Hampton, Frank 42 

Hampton Legion 37, 38 

Hampton, Lieutenant Pl-oston — Mortally wounded at Burgess Mill. 

Hampton, Wade, Lieutenant-General, Governor, and State Senator. Birth. ... 1 

Descent !• 2 

At Millwood 13 

As horseman 13, 14, 15 

As hunter 14 

Sportsman 15 

His reading 16 



Index 235 

Hampton, Wade. — {Continued) Page 

Physical characteristics 16, 17, 18 

Cheerful disposition 18 

Joke on a naked Federal prisoner 18, 19 

Charging at Fayetteville 19, 20 

Joke on a member of his staff 20, 21 

Breakfast with General Lee, and joke 21, 22, 33 

With Lee in the lines 23, 24 

Cotton planter 24 

His negroes 24 

Fondness for country life 24 

At Cashier's Valley 24, 25 

Fondness for children 25, 26 

Personal kindness to a wounded trooper at Trevilian 26 

Popularity and influence at Washington 28, 29 

Speech on the Force Bill 29, 30 

Judge Simonton's tribute 30, 31 

General James Conner's opinion 30 

Opposes slave-trade 32 

Some points of military similarity to Cromwell 37, 38 

"The Legion" 37, 38 

At Manassas 38, 39, 40 

Equanimity on learning of loss of property amounting to millions 40 

Made Brigadier-General of Cavalry 41 

Chambersburg Raid 41, 42 

Brandy Station 42 

Gettysburg 42 

Made Major-General of Cavalry 42 

Dahlgren Raid 42. 43, 44 

Commander of Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia 44 

Trevilian Campaign 46. 47, 48, 49, 50. 51. 52 

Cattle Raid 53, 54, 55 

Burgess Mill Battle 55, 56, 57, 58. 59, 60 

Lee's letter to Hampton at Five Forks 60 

Commands all the Cavalry of Joseph Johnston's Army 60 

Number of prisoners taken in campaign of 1864 60 

His average effective strength during campaign of 1864 60, 61 

Made Lieutenant-General 61 

The burning of Columbia 61, 62 

Destruction of Kilpatrick's Camp 62. 63. 64. 65 

Number of prisoners taken in the Campaign of the Carolinas 65 

Offering to safeguard President Davis 65, 66, 67, 68 

Nominated for Governor 108 

Letter to President Andrew Johnson Ill, 112, 118 

Prevents the people from storming the Capitol 157 

His title considered 167 

Inaugurated Governor 168 

Disproves asserted desertion of Tilden 179. 180, 181 

Proclamation on Grant's forbidding celebration of Washington's Birth- 
day 185, 186 

Invited to a conference by Hayes 193 

Calls a session of the Legislature 200 

His election to a third term in the United States Senate 212, 213 

Financial wisdom 213, 214 

Letter to the people after the burning of his house 219 

Views about Boer War 220 

Declines appointment of Postmaster at Columbia 224 

His death 224 



236 Index 

Hampton. Wade. — (Continued) Page 

General Longstreet's estimate of him as a Cavalry leader 225 

Funeral 228, 229 

Hampton, Wade (Grandfather of the Lieutenant-General) — 

In command of a Regiment of Cavalry 5 

Commands Sumter's Brigade 5 

At the battle of Eutaw Springs 5 

Member of the Legislature of 1783 5 

In Congress 5 

Major-General 6 

Cotton planter 6 

Hampton, Col. Wade (Father of the Lieutenant-General) 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 

Planter 12, 13 

At Millwood 12, 13 

Millwood burned In 1865 12 

Hamburg Riots 126, 127 

Hayes. President — 

How made 152, 153 

Declared elected 182 

Policy 188 

Inauguration 188 

Invites Hampton, and also Chamberlain, to a conference 193 

Agrees to withdraw troops 193 

Jackson, Major-General Andrew — 

At New Orleans 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 

Won empire for the United States • 8. 9 

Among the world's greatest commanders 11 

His strategy and tactics 11 

Johnson, President Andrew 74 

Reconstruction Acts 76, 77 

Supreme Court decides it has no jurisdiction 77 

Appropriate quotation from Morley's Cromwell 77 

Views of Professor Burgess 77 

Nevertheless, representation an inalienable right 78 

Enforcement of Reconstruction Acts in South Carolina 87 

Hampton's letter to Johnson Ill 

Johnston, General Albert Sydney — 

His beneficiary at Trevilian 27, 28 

His old soldiers 27, 28 

Johnston, General Joseph E 60 

Kilpatrick, General — 

Dahlgren Raid 42, 43, 44 

Camp destroyed 62, 63, 64, 65 

Kilpatrick's Camp, Battle of 62, 63, 64, 65 

Kimpton, "Financial Agent" 174, 175 

Lee, Major-General Fitzhugh 46, 52 

Lee, General Robert E. — 

Gettysburg 12 

Breakfasts with Hampton 21,22; 33 

Solicitude, mother's, 23, 24 

Letter to Hampton about Five Forks 60 

Opinion about Reconstruction 70 

Legislature — 

Excluded from Hall by troops 150 

Organized 159 

Spurious Mackey House 159 



Index 237 

Page 

Lincoln, President Abraham — 

Character 74 ; 83, 84 

Reconstruction programme 84 

Louisiana Territory 8. 9 

Lynching Conclusion of Chapter IX 

Machiavelli — hunting as a topographical tutor for war 31 

Mackey.E. W. M 159,160.161, 171 

McClure, Colonel A. K. — Letters about Hampton 28, 29 ; 41 42 

Manassas, Battle of 38,39 40 

Morley, John — Invitation from 77 

Morton, Levi P. (Vice-President) — 

Hampton's speech on the Force Bill 29, 30 

Morton, Oliver P 74, 106, 185, 196 

Moses, "Robber Governor" F. J 91, 105 

Moses, Judge 149, 182 

Naked Federal Prisoner 18, 19 

New Orleans, Battle of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. 12, 13 

New York Tribune calls Hampton "Christian and patriot" 32 

"Ogden Movement" 204, 205 

Packenham, Sir Edward 7,8.9, 10 

Patterson. U. S. Senator J. J. ("Honest John") 124, 137, 194, 196, 197 

Pike, James S. — 

Description of the Legislature, etc 93, 94 

Depravity of Federal officeholders 95 

Prisoners — 

Taken by Hampton in Campaign of 1864 60 

In Campaign of the Carolinas 65 

Rape Conclusion of Chapter IV. 

Representation an inalienable right 78 

Returning Board 148,150, 152 

Rifle Clubs 122, 123 

Proclaimed 133 

Forbidden by Grant to celebrate Washington's Birthday 185, 186 

Roosevelt, Theodore 114, 218, 220. 221, 222 

Rosser, Major-General Thomas L 49 

Ruger, Brigadier-General T. H 154, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 163, 164, 176 

Rutledge, John 119, 207 

Scott, Governor R. K 90, 91 

Sherman, General Tecumseh — 

Burning of Columbia 61, 62 

St. Gauden's Statue 84, 85 

Slmonton, Judge Charles H. — Tribute to Hampton 30, 31 

Simpson, Lieutenant-Governor W. D 109, 168, 177 

"South American Methods" 155, 157 

Spy, incident of 19. 20 

Staff-offlcer's muddy ride 20, 21 

Stevens, Thaddeus 74, 78, 79, 81, 82. 83, 84 

Strength of Hampton's Corps in Campaign of 1864 60 

Supreme Court of United States — 

Decides itself without jurisdiction in cases arising under the Reconstruc- 
tion Acts, and therefore unable to safeguard the liberty of the citizen. . 77 

Appropriate quotation from Morley's Cromwell 77 



238 Index 

Page 

"Telepathic violence" 123, 126, 127, 128, 139 

Thompson, Ex-Governor Hugh S. — 

Tribute to Hampton 29, 30 

Tilden, Samuel J 153, 179, 180, 181 

Trevilian, Battle of 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 

Tuskegee, reports about 206 

Wallace, U. S. Marshal 130,137, 138 

Wheeler, Major-General Joseph 61, 63, 64 

Whipper, negro Judge 105 

Willard, Justice of Supreme Court of South Carolina 149, 183 

Whittemore, "Cadet-broker" 171, 172, 202 

Wright, negro Judge .150, 183 



MAY 10 1907 



Illii; 



